Lengthy Bureaucratic Process Inbound for Airport on the Way Out

Sasaki, Incorporated has signed an agreement with the Santa Monica City Council to survey, study, and plan out a conversion to develop the soon-to-be-former airport into a park... despite the loss of jobs, mobility, access to emergency air services and so much more.

The Santa Monica airport will continue to operate as usual until December 31, 2028. The 227-acre airport land holding represents nearly 5% of the city’s land area, falling under the guidelines of Measure LC, which permits development for parks, public facilities, recreational areas, and maintenance of existing cultural, arts, and educational purposes. Sasaki will embark on a 5-part survey.

Phase 1, ‘Charting the Course’, will consist of a wide survey to produce a “clear framework for the process” of turning the airport into a public use area. “This includes looking at policy documents, historical and cultural resources and gathering information on the environmental, cultural and planning opportunities and limitations for the site, as well as the community’s initial needs and desires.”

Phase 2, ‘Discovering the Place and Setting the Stage’, involves a “comprehensive assessment of the current environmental conditions, transportation and infrastructure, natural and cultural resources and regulatory frameworks related to the airport site.” Sasaki’s results from Phase 2 will go before the Council for comment before they embark on Phase 3 - “Defining the Future of Place”. Once there, Sasaki will “work with the community to explore and test various scenarios for the future of the airport land, generating alternatives that are environmentally sound, financially viable, and programmatically feasible and closely align with the established guiding principles for the “Great Park” but explore different emphasis and organization of those principles.”

Finally, Phase 4 will implement a detailed strategy for how the plans from Phase 3 will look in practice. Of particular note is their desire to find “innovative ways to initiate on-site activations from day one of city possession of the airport land on Jan. 1, 2029.” This proposal would be presented to the City Council for review and approval. From there, Phase 5 (no cute name given, apparently) will see Sasaki create a “vision book” with all of the above data on the prospective project.... at which point an amazing bit of aviation history will deal with the final threat.

FMI: www.santamonica.gov