Airport

BURBANK — The Planning Board on Monday upheld an appeal opposing the development of a land parcel owned by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority for a combined 70,000 square feet of jet hanger and office space. The board found that the project may violate city zoning codes. The appellants, Phillip and Carolyn Berlin, argued that the proposed development on Clybourn Avenue does not conform to a Development Agreement between Burbank and the Airport Authority, which governs Bob Hope Airport expansion, because the project site is in a dual-zoned parcel, where one of the zoning designations prohibits use of the land for general aviation.

CITY HALL — The City Council could find itself in a procedural quagmire Tuesday when it attempts to fill the seat Councilman Bob Yousefian left vacant two weeks ago after resigning from the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority. In a process than can range from a simple consensus vote on a single nominee, to a possible precedent-setting scenario in which the council can’t even maintain quorum as multiple nominees excuse themselves from the chambers, City Atty.

A little black dog made it into and out of Bob Hope Airport quickly Thursday morning — without passing through security. Officials said a member of the airport's maintenance crew spotted the small dog with long black fur racing along near the runway about 7 a.m. The dog was seen near the airport's fuel field, on the northeast side of the runway. Within minutes, the dog had squeezed under a fence or escaped when a gate was opened. It bolted onto San Fernando Road, according to airport spokeswoman Lucy Burghdorf.

Let's face it. Despite all the ease and convenience of Bob Hope Airport, it could use some invigorating. And now, with plans to create a high-speed rail up the length of California, the air travel hub will definitely have to step up its game. Over the years, redevelopment has been slowly but surely cropping up around its borders, but Bob Hope Airport has remained steadfastly drab. Just because it has to remain small — and efforts to expand air operations would no doubt invite rage from noise-wary residents — doesn't mean it has to fall into faded oblivion.

Bob Hope Airport officials have agreed to pay $2 million to Lockheed Martin Corp. in exchange for a guarantee from the aerospace company that it will cover the cost of what is expected to be a $108-million cleanup of contaminated groundwater under a portion of the airport. Airport officials hailed the deal in an announcement Friday as an economical solution to a problem that could have cost much more. Lockheed spokesman Gary Cambre said the settlement "is fair and equitable," with the airport paying its share of costs and Lockheed Martin agreeing to work with the EPA and the other potentially responsible parties.

Credit agency Fitch this week downgraded its rating on Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority bonds, but noted the airport is in healthy financial shape overall. The agency dropped its rating to A+ from AA- on $53.5 million worth of outstanding 2005 bonds and assigned that same rating to $82.7 million of new bonds the airport plans to float to build a transit center. In a release Tuesday Fitch gave the airport a “stable” outlook, up from “rating watch negative.” Fitch listed several reasons for the rating downgrade, including “the volatile nature of operating revenues, which are influenced by recently weakened traffic performance.” Bob Hope Airport has been battling declining passenger numbers and revenues the past four years and suffered another blow when American Airlines pulled out of Burbank in February.

The community will soon get a chance to weigh in on the future of Bob Hope Airport, which could include construction of a new terminal that for the first time in years will meet federal safety requirements. Airport officials plan to launch a consensus-building process on Monday with presentations to city councils in Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena, each of which has representatives on the governing airport authority. Because the safe areas around Bob Hope's runways do not meet Federal Aviation Administration standards, the only way to resolve those issues is to relocate the 81-year-old terminal, airport officials say. “It has outlived its usefulness,” said Dan Feger, the airport's executive director.

Maintenance workers at Bob Hope Airport voted overwhelmingly this week to unionize, setting the stage for contract negotiations they hope will result in higher wages and improved benefits. Thirty-one maintenance workers will now join International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501, said Gavin Koon, a Local 501 representative. One worker was out of town the day of the vote, which came in at 29-1 in favor of unionizing, he added. “Very rarely is there such solidarity,” Koon said.

Looking to eliminate 700,000 car trips, increase options for travelers and improve runway safety, Bob Hope Airport officials this week unveiled their new contract with rental car firms for use of the upcoming $120-million transit center. The plan calls for seven rental car firms to operate on airport grounds by 2013, up from the current five. Under the 30-year leases, rental car companies will help pay for the roughly $90-million bond the airport plans to float to pay for construction of the new transit center, which will include connections to bus and passenger rail lines and may eventually be a stop on the proposed California high-speed rail line.

A 31-year-old man who police said tried to smuggle more than 50 pounds of marijuana in checked luggage pleaded not guilty to felony drug charges Friday. Following his plea in Burbank Superior Court, Clarence Williams, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was taken to a Los Angeles County jail facility, where he is being held in lieu of $75,000 bail. Officers arrested Williams at Bob Hope Airport on Wednesday night after one of his two suitcases triggered an alarm as it passed through screening devices, police said.