City Says It Doesn’t Need Another Vote to Close the Airport
Ever since a federal judge approved a consent decree between the city and the Federal Aviation Administration that allows the city to close the airport on January 1, 2029, most of the debate has focused on what the city should do with the airport land and not whether or not the airport should close. That debate will continue at tomorrow night’s Council meeting, when the Council hears, and will likely approve, a second report on the “guiding principles” that the future airport to park conversion process will follow.
However, a legal memo provided by independent counsel (Agenda, Item 7a Part e) shows that the city council doesn’t have to even take another vote to close the airport likely officially ending the political debate inside of the city over whether or not the airport will be closed in 2029 or shortly thereafter. In 2017, the city council passed an ordinance that read:
The City Manager, City Attorney and their staffs, consistent with the terms of the Consent Decree, shall take all actions necessary and proper to ensure that the Airport will cease to operate as an airport and shall be closed to all aeronautical use forever effective as of midnight on December 31, 2028.
According to the memo, this paragraph gives the city staff the authority to close the airport without any more votes needed by the council.
“We are pleased that the City Attorney, in consultation with outside counsel, has concluded that the City Council’s unanimous vote and resolution in 2017 to close the Santa Monica Airport at midnight on December 31, 2028 constitutes the official vote to close the facility. No further vote or action is required. The Great Park Coalition guiding principles clearly state “We consider airport closure at the end of 2028 to be a resolved issue”, contrary to what the aviation industry and its supporters have been saying for years.”
But this doesn’t mean the city is done and can just bar the gates as part of a 2029 New Year’s party. A separate memo (pdf) prepared by the city’s public works director last Spring outlines what steps the city still has to take before closure of the airport can take place. This list includes:
- Federal (environmental impact review) and state (CEQA) environmental review: This review would not just have to include a review of the environmental impacts of closing the airport, but also the environmental impacts of what the new uses for the land will create.
- A vote by the city council to certify the environmental documents,
- Notices to be made to the FAA and other state and federal agencies: Any of these agencies could challenge the documents leading to another round of court cases
Over the last couple of weeks, the airport has been a staging ground for CalFire and emergency air vehicles being used to combat the fires in the Palisades and Malibu. Airport supporters have argued that closing the airport would reduce emergency preparedness when future fires break out. Supporters of closing the airport argue that soccer and other recreational fields could work just as well for takeoffs and landings.
