SANTA MONICA—During a January 24th Santa Monica City Council (SMCC) meeting, they agreed to move forward with plans to close the Santa Monica Airport. The SMCC announced anticipated dates of the airport closure and redevelopment process.
“This is the very beginning of a community process to reimagine the Airport site, which accounts for an unprecedented 4.3% of the City’s land. We know this is an asset Santa Monicans care about and we want to work together to set goals and priorities to meet diverse community needs for the next several generations,” said Mayor Gleam Davis.
Due to a consent decree with the Federal Aviation Administration reached in 2017, control over the Santa Monica Airport will return locally on December 31, 2028.
“The potential to close the airport sets the stage to extensively plan for the future of the 227-acre parcel, and to invite community participation in designing what may be the greatest transformative event of this century for the city of Santa Monica, and perhaps the region,” said the SMCC.
In 2014, Measure LC was passed by voters that will allow the Santa Monica City Council to approve the development of parks, and other recreational facilities.
New development is now prohibited on airport property that is permanently closed to aviation use, unless voters choose otherwise.
The Request for Proposal will be followed by an evaluation and actively include the interests of the local community. The RFP is expected to be released as early as Spring 2023. The SMCC relayed that the selected firm or team will be identified by early fall pending council approval with the project initiation to commence in the winter of 2023-2024.
The SMCC included the following timeline:
Consultant Selection Summer 2023
Project Initiation Winter 2023
Existing Conditions Spring 2024
Preferred Planning Scenario Spring-Summer 2026
Specific Plan Initiative Fall-Winter 2026
Consent Decree and Airport Closure Authorization Winter 2028
Specific Plan Adoption Fall 2028-2033 or beyond
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