Safety Buffer Needed Now

Burbank officials and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority say there’s still a chance to reach a new agreement to replace the old airport terminal, even as the authority begins preparations to sell the land set aside for it.

It’s hard not to be skeptical. Burbank had until tomorrow to exercise its option to buy the 81-acre parcel. City officials announced last week that they would not do so. Their decision sets into motion a requirement--set by an earlier agreement--that the Airport Authority put the parcel on the market and stipulate that it not be used for a new terminal or any other airport purpose.

So the game of chicken continues, although at what pace is anybody’s guess. Burbank officials speculate that the land will sell rapidly. The authority believes it will take at least a year.

Burbank and the Airport Authority are only 25,000 square feet apart on the size of a new terminal, which is a good sign: Size had been a sticking point for those who see replacing the facility as a plot to vastly expand the airport. But they are philosophically miles apart on Burbank’s other demands, such as a “super majority” vote that guarantees Burbank veto power on the tri-city authority.

While the two sides work to hammer out their differences--or not, as has been the case for decades--here is a suggestion: Why not move ahead now on another of Burbank’s conditions, a proposal to buy property on Hollywood Way to use as a safety buffer?

The need for such a buffer was driven home in March when a Southwest Airlines 737 began its descent late and fast and crashed through a barrier at the end of the runway, narrowly missing a gas station. No one was seriously hurt in the accident, but the community can’t count on being so fortunate again.

The Federal Aviation Administration recommends but does not require an extra length of runway that can be used in case a plane can’t stop as quickly as it should. Noise activists, however, see extending runways as a ploy to accommodate larger aircraft, and the tri-city agreement that operates Burbank Airport prohibits runway expansion. But that does not rule out a safety buffer that, at minimum, would remove the gas station.

To actually agree on and accomplish something could lend welcome momentum to the negotiations. There is no reason, after all, to tie the buffer on Hollywood Way to a new terminal, or to withdraw the offer if the Airport Authority doesn’t meet Burbank’s latest list of demands. To do so would only underscore the shamefully small role safety has played in this entire debate.