AIRPORT DEAL WITH CITY STILL UP IN THE AIR BURBANK COUNCIL MEMBERS IFFY ON LACK OF MASTER PLAN.Byline: Alex Dobuzinskis Staff Writer BURBANK - Terms of a truce between Burbank and the Bob Hope Airport Bob Hope Airport (IATA: BUR, ICAO: KBUR, FAA LID: BUR) is a regional and national airport located in Burbank, California, United States. It was formerly known as United Airport (1930-1934); Union Air Terminal (1934-1940); leave some city officials worried about airport expansion, even though the deal would halt costly litigation An action brought in court to enforce a particular right. The act or process of bringing a lawsuit in and of itself; a judicial contest; any dispute. When a person begins a civil lawsuit, the person enters into a process called litigation. and block a new terminal for 10 years. Those concerns appear strong enough that one City Council member rated the chances as ``slim'' that the proposed agreement will be approved. The airport's lack of a master plan for growth, its purchase of a 2,200-space private parking lot and the future use of land on which a new terminal could be built are among obstacles cited by council members. The proposed agreement, which officials announced in June with hopes of approving this autumn, would put an end to litigation that has cost the Bob Hope Airport at least $13 million and the city about $12 million. But critics have assailed the cease-fire accord as a bad deal for the city. Burbank had a moratorium A suspension of activity or an authorized period of delay or waiting. A moratorium is sometimes agreed upon by the interested parties, or it may be authorized or imposed by operation of law. in effect for the past two years barring the airport from doing significant improvements without City Council approval. That temporary restriction expired ex·pire v. ex·pired, ex·pir·ing, ex·pires v.intr. 1. To come to an end; terminate: My membership in the club has expired. 2. last month. ``I view a lot of the things that the airport wants to do as fairly routine,'' said City Councilman Jef Vander Borght. ``I also see that a number of the items that the airport is asking us to consider (are) extremely large in the picture of the airport's operations.'' ``The chances of this agreement succeeding are slim, but it's still worth pursuing it,'' Vander Borght said. The airport presented a draft environmental analysis of the proposed agreement to the City Council last month. The airport found that with the $41.5 million purchase of the adjacent Star Park lot and the rearrangement re·ar·range tr.v. re·ar·ranged, re·ar·rang·ing, re·ar·rang·es To change the arrangement of. re of parking facilities its total number of spaces could go from 7,730 to nearly 9,460. Those numbers suggested more passengers could be going through the airport, and Vander Borght said he was unhappy with that prospect. But a revised analysis released last week anticipated that the total number of spaces would only increase by 181. Officials suggested that the city could seek to cap the number of parking spaces the airport could have under the agreement. Mayor Marsha Ramos said that she hopes there could be some ``give and take'' on the parking question. ``However, the policy issue is by allowing the airport authority to purchase the Star parking, is that going down the road for long-term Long-term Three or more years. In the context of accounting, more than 1 year. long-term 1. Of or relating to a gain or loss in the value of a security that has been held over a specific length of time. Compare short-term. expansion?'' she said. The airport plans to use the Star Park lot for valet parking valet parking n. Parking arrangements provided by a commercial establishment, such as a restaurant, whereby patrons leave their cars at the entrance and attendants park and retrieve them. Noun 1. and rental car facilities. Victor Gill gill, in weights and measures gill, in weights and measures: see English units of measurement. , a spokesman for the airport authority, said that it is unclear whether the Star Park lot could eventually be used for self-parking. City Councilman Todd Todd , Sir Alexander Robertus 1907-1997. British chemist. He won a 1957 Nobel Prize for his study of nucleic acids and nucleotide structures. Campbell noted that the Bob Hope Airport does not have a master plan, whereas many other airports do. ``Perhaps that could be part of the agreement ... that the authority pulls together a master plan, to allow the community to see where they're headed and to receive comments from the community on that master plan,'' he said. Airport Commissioner Chris Holden Holden, town (1990 pop. 14,628), Worcester co., central Mass., a residential suburb of Worcester; settled 1723, set off and inc. 1741. Manufactures include electrical and metal products, plastics, and machinery. said a master plan ``sounds reasonable on the surface'' but it also could handcuff the airport if it wants to make improvements in safety and other areas. ``Flexibility is very important on some issues,'' Holden said. The City Council held a special closed-session meeting on Wednesday to discuss the proposed agreement. Alex Dobuzinskis, (818) 546-3304 alex.dobuzinskis(at)dailynews.com |
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