BURBANK MAY PLACE AIRPORT PLAN ON BALLOT; COUNCIL TO WEIGH ADVISORY VOTE.

Byline: Lee Condon Staff Writer

The Burbank City Council will discuss a proposal Tuesday to place an initiative on the ballot asking voters whether they approve of a plan to allow Burbank Airport to move and expand its commercial airline terminal.

The initiative, proposed by Councilman Bob Kramer, would be advisory in nature. City Manager Robert ``Bud'' Ovrom said he does not expect the council to decide on Tuesday whether to put the initiative on the ballot.

Kramer, however, said it likely will be clear at the meeting whether a majority of the panel's five members supports his idea.

``We'll know on Tuesday how the council feels about having the public weigh in on the airport solution,'' Kramer said. ``This is the most important issue we have had to vote on in the last 20 years. I'd like the entire city to weigh in on it.''

Last month, after a four-year legal war over expansion, the city of Burbank and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority announced they had reached a ``framework agreement'' that would allow the airport to expand. The deal needs to be approved by the Burbank City Council, which will not make a final decision before November.

While the council debates whether to float a ballot question, a citizen's group led by former Councilman Ted McConkey is moving ahead with its own initiative proposal. The group, called Restore Our Airport Rights, or ROAR, on Thursday submitted the proposed language for their initiative, which would be binding rather than advisory.

McConkey said many residents have suffered from jet noise for decades and they feel betrayed by the City Council's proposed deal with the airport. McConkey said residents are mostly angry because the agreement would allow the airport to move and expand its terminal without first securing a mandatory curfew on night flights and a cap on the number of flights.

``There are a large number of people who want caps and curfews,'' McConkey said.

The framework agreement calls for the new terminal to be 160,000 square feet larger than the current terminal, although as with the current terminal it would have 14 gates. In order to expand to 16 gates, the airport would have to secure a mandatory curfew on flights from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Airport officials have wanted the terminal to be moved for years, because under federal guidelines it is located too close to airport runways.

The ROAR group's initiative would call for a mandatory curfew between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. and a cap on flights before the airport is allowed to build on the new site, Lockheed property next to the current site.

The city could have to follow the directives of the ROAR initiative. Kramer's initiative would simply advise the council how the public feels about the proposed settlement the city has reached with the airport.

Kramer said he expects many Burbank residents will end up voting in favor of the deal with Burbank Airport.

``I think there is support for it,'' Kramer said.

Burbank Mayor Stacey Murphy, who led settlement talks with the airport, said she has not decided whether the matter should be put to a vote of the people.

``I don't know what (Kramer) plans to put on the ballot,'' Murphy said.

While a majority of the council has the power to place an initiative on the ballot on its own, residents have to collect signatures to accomplish the same goal.

Burbank City Clerk Judie Sarquiz said the ROAR initiative is being reviewed by the City Attorney's Office, which will issue an analysis of what would be printed on the ballot. Once that is done, ROAR will be able to start collecting signatures.

The group will have 180 days to collect the signatures. In order to force a special election on the issue, city officials said ROAR will need to collect about 7,800 signatures, representing 15 percent of the city's registered voters.