Los Angeles City Councilmember Traci Park, who’s district includes Mar Vista, West Los Angeles, the Palisades and Venice and more wrote last month to the Santa Monica City Council to ask for a formal assessment of the Santa Monica Airport’s operational impacts on communities within her district.
The text of the letter can be found at the bottom of this article, and a pdf of the letter can be read here.
Park’s concerns can be broken into two categories: the first about the current operations of the airport, and the second on its impact on residents.
Primary Issues
- Increased Noise and Pollution: Commercial charter flights and flight schools are generating intrusive levels of noise and environmental pollution in residential areas.
- Flight School Activity: Training exercises involving “touch-and-go” landings and closed traffic patterns are a major source of disruption.
- Geographic Impact: The neighborhoods of East Venice and Mar Vista have effectively become “de facto SMO training airspace” as pilots fly low-altitude loops over these homes.+1
- Ineffectiveness of Current Programs: Existing measures like the “Fly Neighborly” Program and the Aircraft Noise Ordinance are failing to mitigate the issues because they rely heavily on voluntary pilot cooperation.
Human Impact
- Repetitive Disturbance: Training patterns are often repeated dozens of times in a single session, leading to relentless noise.+1
- Well-being: These operations are causing documented frustration, stress, and sleep disruption among constituents.
- Compatibility: The Councilwoman asserts that these operations reinforce the view that the airport is fundamentally incompatible with dense urban neighborhoods.
The controversy surrounding SMO has intensified in 2026. Last month, the “Great Park and Community Housing Initiative,” a ballot measure supported by figures within Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights (SMRR) was submitted to the city attorney for review before SMRR and its allies can begin collecting signatures. The proposal seeks to amend the 2014 Measure LC to allow 3,000 units of affordable housing on 25% of the land. While framed as a solution to the housing crisis, the measure has already drawn public opposition from pro-housing City Council Members.
Near simultaneously, a recent poll from the pro-aviation group Spirit of Santa Monica claims that 67% of residents now favor keeping the airport open. However, these results should be viewed with caution, as the poll was commissioned by an organization with a clear vested interest and utilized phrasing that emphasized “preserving options” rather than a direct choice between an airport or a park.
Letter from Park to the City Council:
TRACI PARK LOS ANGELES COUNCILWOMAN | 11th DISTRICT
January 29, 2026
Santa Monica City Council City of Santa Monica Santa Monica City Hall 1685 Main Street, Room 209 Santa Monica, CA 90401 +4
RE: Letter of Support – Advocacy, City of Los Angeles Residents Regarding Santa Monica Airport Concerns
Mayor Torosis and Honorable Councilmembers,
I am writing to express my concerns regarding aspects of the operation of the Santa Monica Airport (SMO) and the resulting impacts to adjacent neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles.
Air traffic from commercial charter flights and flight schools over the densely populated Los Angeles neighborhoods of East Venice and Mar Vista, originating from SMO, have increased intrusive noise and pollution in these areas, despite the Aircraft Noise Ordinance and the “Fly Neighborly” Program, which relies heavily on pilot cooperation and education to minimize disruptions.
In particular, the training work of touch-and-go landings and closed traffic patterns conducted as a result of increased flight school operations often involve takeoff from SMO, climbing to a low altitude, flying east over Mar Vista and East Venice, making a wide turn, and returning to SMO to land. This pattern is sometimes repeated dozens of times per training session. Unfortunately, residential neighborhoods in the City of Los Angeles have effectively become de facto SMO training airspace. This relentless repetition is triggering frustration, stress, and sleep disruption, and only reinforces views that the airport is not compatible with dense urban neighborhoods. +3
I join my constituents in requesting an assessment of SMO’s operational impacts on the residents of the nearby communities within the Eleventh Council District of the City of Los Angeles. I appreciate your consideration of this letter and the concerns of my constituents.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Sean Silva (Sean.Silva@lacity.org) in my office.
Thank you for your consideration.
Very truly yours,
(Signature)
TRACI PARK Councilwoman, 11th District City of Los Angeles
Author
About The Author
