Residents have until Jan. 21 to file complaints or comments to the authority about the environmental review, which the authority will then consider as it decides on the fate of the project.
The authority has not received any comments, airport spokesman Victor Gill said.
Compiling a report of the project’s environmental impacts was a necessary step in moving this project forward, he said.
The environmental impacts have to be studied in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
When Burbank approved the project in November, after a law firm confirmed the project would not conflict with a contract the airport has with the city against terminal expansion, the city approved a project that was 4,500 square feet.
In its negative declaration statement — which says there are no significant environmental impacts — the authority included an extra 2,000 square feet, a discrepancy that did not go unnoticed by some residents.
“The approved project is 4,500 square feet,” Rose Prouser said. “Either this project has grown after approval or it’s a different project.”
But Michael Forbes, the Planning Department’s Principal Planner, said the project has not changed.
“The canopies were shown on the original plans and included on the development review approval; 4,500 was used because that’s what the airport authority used before to focus on the enclosed space of the building,” he said. “Canopies are not subject to development review because of the provision that exempts unenclosed spaces.”
Separate from the environmental review is the original approval by the Planning Board, which was appealed by two Burbank residents.
