AIRPORT'S LAND DEAL IN LIMBO; BURBANK WON'T CUT ANY CORNERS TO OK PURCHASE, DESPITE CRUNCH.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

City of Burbank officials said they will process Burbank Airport's expansion proposal as quickly as possible, but will not be able to provide approval before the deadline a judge set to buy the land for a new commercial airline terminal.

Burbank Airport officials have a major time crunch problem on their hands. Burbank Superior Court Judge Carl West Thursday ordered them to pay Lockheed Martin $30 million in 30 days, and an additional $19 million in the next 30 days to complete its purchase of 130 acres of land. The airport sued to take the property by eminent domain.

But airport officials say they cannot yet justify paying for land because they have not yet secured the city of Burbank's approval of the purchase or their overall expansion plans.

The airport has submitted a downsized expansion plan to the city, but city officials have said it will take at least four months to review the proposal. Airport officials have called on the city to speed up their approval process.

If the airport does not pay Lockheed Martin within 60 days, the judge has said it will lose its right to take the property.

Burbank City Manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom said the city has a track record of speedy reviews of major projects, citing Disney, Warner Bros. and NBC expansions as examples. He noted that the Disney project was approved in just nine months despite its massive size.

The airport proposal is even more complicated than a studio expansion, and will obviously take more than 30 days to review, he said.

The issue of traffic alone will make it impossible to meet such a fast-track schedule.

``We have to know what streets people are going to come in and out on. We have to figure out what streets have to be widened,'' Ovrom said. ``We wouldn't let a 7-11 be built if we didn't have an understanding of how traffic will flow in and out.

``This is a huge project. It's 130 acres, 450,000 square feet, with thousands of parking spaces and handling 5 to 10 million passengers a year.''

Besides staff review, the city also has to hold public hearings, with notification requirements that lengthen the process.

``You have to have public hearings. The public has a right to comment on this,'' Ovrom said.

In addition, Ovrom said the airport's application is not particularly detailed and the city has many questions.

``They have told us as little as possible about their plans. They say we'll build parking between the terminal and the street. It's the epitome of vague,'' Ovrom said.

But Dios Marrero, the airport's acting executive director, said the city reviewed and rejected a larger airport expansion plan three years ago and is

familiar with the airport's plans.

``This is not a new project,'' Marrero said. ``It's in everybody's best interest to get this going as quickly as possible and stop worrying about the ultimate result.''

Even if the purchase and the expansion are approved in a fast-track process, Marrero said he expects the city and the airport can work out many of the disagreements that have caused a four-year, multi-million legal war between the city and the airport over the expansion. The city has opposed an expansion, saying they first want a mandatory curfew on night flights and a noise budget in order to protect residents from jet noise.

Marrero said the airport is willing to pay for any infrastructure changes the city deems necessary.

``We will agree to pay the city for any infrastructure impacts they have,'' Marrero said.

The airport needs the city's help because if it cannot complete the land purchase it will lose the right to buy the property. If the airport walks away from the land deal, it could face paying millions of dollars in damages to Lockheed Martin, Marrero said.

But Ovrom suggested the airport should go ahead and pay Lockheed Martin before they go through the city's approval process.

``If they abandon the land they'll have to pay $10 to $20 million in damages to Lockheed and they'll have nothing. If they buy the land it's still an asset and they can always sell it,'' Ovrom said. ``They know that Burbank wants a new terminal. I think they can reasonably get themselves out of this.''