Officials Ask for More Time to Comment on Hollywood Burbank Airport Project

Hollywood Burbank Airport is managed by a commission comprised of officials from Pasadena, Burbank, and Glendale, but none from Los Angeles.
As a result, L.A. residents will have little to no opportunity to weigh in on a proposal to replace the facility’s passenger terminal through public comment.

It is for that reason that L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer and Los Angeles City Councilman Paul Krekorian have requested a 75-day extension for the public to comment on the Federal Aviation Administration’s environmental review of the proposal.

“This Burbank Airport project is a big deal, and San Fernando Valley residents deserve a full opportunity to weigh in with their views,”’ Feuer said. “That’s why I’m calling on the FAA to significantly extend the public comment period. As we’ve seen with the FAA’s changes to Burbank Airport flight patterns, what happens at that airport has a huge, daily impact on Valley residents’ quality of life.”

The FAA will normally grant a 15-day extension where a commenting agency such as the city requests more time to review an environmental report, Feuer said.

“The people of the San Fernando Valley are already suffering significant environmental impacts from the Hollywood Burbank Airport, including intensification of aircraft noise, air pollution. and ground traffic,” Krekorian said.

“The replacement terminal, if built, could increase those impacts,” he said. “This draft environmental impact statement is almost 3,000 pages long and this project will impact the people of my district and the rest of the east San Fernando Valley for generations to come.”

The Hollywood Burbank Airport Commission consists of nine members from Pasadena, Glendale, and Burbank. Pasadena’s three representatives on the board are former Pasadena City College Trustee Ross Selvidge and Pasadena City Council members John Kennedy and Steve Madison.

In a letter to the FAA, Feuer and Krekorian said extra time should be afforded to ensure full public participation in the environmental review of the Burbank replacement terminal project.

The environmental report addresses a number of potential effects concerning a project that directly affects the lives of the city’s residents and businesses in direct proximity to the project.