Closure Advocates Lick Their Chops Over Perceived 2015 Opportunity

A potentially precedent-setting NIMBY battle is shaping up in California. The city wants to please residents near the Santa Monica Airport who say they want to close the airport to enjoy less noise and pollution, and greater safety from possible crashes. The FAA says the city made a deal to keep the airport open in perpetuity. Sometime between now and 2015 the disagreement may go to court.

The Los Angeles Times reports that all land and building leases at the airport expire in 2015, and the city has already engaged consultants to plan what could be done with 227 acres that currently includes the airport, a dog park, athletic fields and art galleries. The FAA is promising to hold the city to the terms of its original 1948 transfer agreement.

The airport predates the longest-residing NIMBYs by decades. It opened in 1917, and is Los Angeles County's oldest airport. High land values in parts of California have led the city to approve encroaching development over the years.

The LA Times refers to private jet operators as "convenience-loving Westside jet-setters," and quotes Martin Rubin, identified by the paper as an air quality activist based in Los Angeles, in linking the NIMBY debate to a larger movement. Rubin tells the paper, ""The 1% are jet-setting in and out of Santa Monica Airport … and polluting the air for a large number of residents."

FMI: www.smgov.net/departments/airport