Federal Judge Says City Should Have Held Public Hearings When Crafting Its Deal With The FAA

A federal judge has issued a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California halting the shortening of the runway at Santa Monica Airport (KSMO), which was scheduled to begin October 9.

In his order, Judge Ronald S. Lew, Senior U.S. District Judge, said that the agreement reached between the FAA and the City of Santa Monica violated California law which requires public hearings on such issues. While the California Public Utilities Code does does imply "allowance for adoption of settlements in closed session" ... it "cannot be construed to empower a city council to take or agree to take, as part of a non publicly ratified litigation settlement, action that by substantive law may not be taken without a public hearing and opportunity for the public to be heard.”

The judge said that because the city entered into the settlement agreement with the FAA without holding public hearings, they were likely to lose any case concerning the agreement in court.

The request for a temporary restraining order was brought by Santa Monica Resident Kate Scott, who lives just west of the airport. She held that shortening the runway would force airplanes to fly about 100 feet lower over her home, increasing the noise in her neighborhood. She also said that the lower altitudes increase risk to pilots and people on the ground, as aircraft would not have the ability to return to the airport in the event of a mechanical issue. She said shortening the runway represented "irreparable harm" to her, and asked that the runway remain unchanged.

The City of Santa Monica did not respond to the complaint, "leaving the Court to speculate as to its harms. Assuming the harms are monetary losses from delayed construction, “it appears that many of these costs may be self-inflicted” due to Defendant’s rush to begin shortening the runway," Judge Lew wrote.

The order effectively stops the runway construction project which was to have begun Monday. But Judge Lew also ordered the city to "show cause as to why it should not be restrained and enjoined in the same manner pending trial of this action. Defendant must file its response, if any, no later than October 13, 2017 at 4:00 p.m. Plaintiffs must file any reply no later than October 18, 2017 at 4:00 p.m., at which point this Court will take the matter under submission."

(Image from file)

FMI: Full Order