About

The Airport land originally WAS a Great Park, purchased by Santa Monicans with a Parks Bond in 1926 and, although that park did offer recreational aviation, it served as an extensive park and recreational area for the region until the Federal Government claimed the land for airport use following Pearl Harbor. The fight to reclaim our Great Park has been going on virtually ever since. The end is now in sight.

For a more complete history, see here:History of the Dispute

In the 2014 general election, measure LC passed overwhelmingly and measure D (the aviation lobby attempt to wrest all airport control from the City) was defeated by a similar margin. The same board members listed above formed the board for LC, so once the LC victory was achieved, formed Santa Monica Airport2Park Foundation with the express goal of shepherding the creation of the “Great Park” promised by LC into reality. Measure LC modified the city charter to state that:

If all or part of the Airport land is permanently closed to aviation use, no new development of that land shall be allowed until the voters have approved limits on the uses and development that may occur on the land. However, this section shall not prohibit the City Council from approving the following on Airport land that has been permanently closed to aviation use: the development of parks, public open spaces, and public recreational facilities; and the maintenance and replacement of existing cultural, arts and education uses.

In January 2017, the City and FAA reached a historic agreement (“the Consent Decree”) whereby the FAA agreed that on January 1, 2029 the City had the right to close the airport permanently. The decree also allowed for the runway shortening (and pavement removal) by 1,500 feet, which the City completed in late 2017. The land at the runway ends is now a wildflower haven. In May 2024 the City, in preparation for 2029 closure, began the formal public outreach, visioning, and planning/design process to define, consistent with measure LC, what the “Great Park” will look like. That process is on-going, the project web site is here: https://www.smacproject.com.

The City charter now protects the airport land from development and other non-LC compliant uses, so the public must now decide how the approximately 200 acres of airport land will transition into the promised “Great Park”. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to re-purpose an enormous and unique land parcel as our largest park.