The Burbank City Council Tuesday approved the construction of a hangar and office space for AvJet Aviation at Bob Hope Airport. In a 4-1 vote, the council overturned a previous decision by the Planning Board that rejected the project because of zoning issues. AvJet looks to have the building completed by the end of the year or early 2008, said company Chairman and CEO Marc J. Foulkrod. “Hangars aren’t hard and go up pretty fast but it’s just getting through the (permitting) process with the city,” Foulkrod said. The hangar and office space will be constructed on three parcels in the 3000 block of Clybourn Avenue. The 57,000 square-foot hangar will house a 737 Boeing Business Jet owned by Shangri La Entertainment, a motion picture production company. The new building will also include 12,383 square-feet of office space. In June, the company had a lease agreement approved by the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority to construct a new hangar to go with the four it already has at the airport. Burbank residents Phil and Carolyn Berlin appealed approval of the project by Burbank Community Development Department Director Sue Georgino. The Planning Board issued its rejection of the project following a hearing in November. The Berlins argued the project violated city zoning code because the hangar would be built on a parcel zoned for manufacturing use. AvJet reconfigured its plans to have the hangar and office space built entirely onto parcels zoned for aviation use. Foulkrod credited Mayor Todd Campbell with cutting through the “rhetoric and emotion” to give the project a fair hearing. “In my view (the council) did an excellent job,” Foulkrod said. “Not just because I won but because they did a very thorough job.”
