Via the City of Santa Monica
On Wednesday, February 1, Judge John F. Walter of the United States District Court for the Central District of California, approved the Consent Decree between the City Santa Monica City and the United States and the Federal Aviation Administration for the closure of Santa Monica Airport.
“Approval by Judge Walter makes the Consent Decree officially final,” said Interim City Attorney Joseph Lawrence. “The Court reviewed the agreement and confirmed what we and the United States’ know to be true – that the settlement ‘as a whole is fair, reasonable and adequate to all concerned.’ The hard work of improving people’s lives now begins. The future of Santa Monica and west Los Angeles will likely forever be far different than most thought possible just a few weeks ago. This is a remarkable and historic achievement.”
“Now that the US District Court has signed our Consent Decree and we have reached a Standstill Agreement with JetSuiteX, we can move to the tangible work,” said Santa Monica Mayor Ted Winterer. “We have an aggressive timeline to shorten the runway to decrease jet traffic as well as implement enhanced security measures, a Fixed Base Operation service to replace private operators, and revised procedures for fining and ultimately banning repeat noise violators. We will tackle each of these in the safest and most expeditious way.”
On February 28, the Santa Monica City Council will vote to award a contract to begin work on the runway reduction from 4,973 to 3,500 feet. It will also vote on a resolution to formally notify the FAA and the Court that Santa Monica Airport will be closed to aviation forever at midnight, December 31, 2028.
To review the Consent Decree and other documents related to SMO visit:
http://www.smgov.net/departments/airport/
About the Santa Monica Airport
The 227-acre property currently occupied by the Santa Monica Airport has been under continuous City ownership since 1926 when the City purchased the property using park bond funds. In 2014, Santa Monica voters passed Measure LC which mandates that if the airport were to close the only permitted uses would be parks, open space, recreation, education and/culture without a vote of the people. For more information, visit http://www.smgov.net/departments/airport
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