The following is a submission from Santa Monica Forward.
Santa Monica Forward Opposes Airport Housing Initiative
Santa Monica Forward has long championed building more housing at all income levels to address the city’s acute housing shortage; it is a bedrock principle on which our organization operates. However, we believe the Airport Housing Initiative ballot measure is the wrong approach at the wrong time. It risks jeopardizing the conclusion of a decades-long fight to close Santa Monica Airport, and could delay community serving uses on the site.
Beyond the political risks, Forward has serious concerns about the economic feasibility of the proposed measure. The initiative reserves a quarter of the airport’s 192 acres for up to 3,000 deed restricted affordable units, with at least half reserved for households earning up to 80% of the area median income. There is no room for market rate housing or other revenue generating uses in this proposal. Below market housing of this kind universally requires deep public subsidies to build and operate, funds that the city does not have nor does the measure identify. Even for-profit market rate housing projects in Santa Monica are struggling to break ground in the current economic climate, with the city council recently adopting emergency measures like the off-site Affordable Housing Production Program to keep approved projects moving forward.
Meanwhile, the airport site itself will likely require tens of millions of dollars in environmental remediation before any construction can begin. We believe that any proposal to deviate from Measure LC’s limitations must come with a clear and credible path to financing. No constituency is served by potentially leaving a quarter of this public land fallow for years or decades.
Introducing a divisive ballot measure to amend Measure LC, before the airport actually closes and before comprehensive environmental studies have finished, risks splintering the broad coalition that has made closure possible. We refuse to give opponents that opening: the closure must remain the singular, unified priority.
Sam Shapiro-Kline & Brad Ewing
Co-Chairs Santa Monica Forward
About Santa Monica Forward: Santa Monica Forward is a civic organization focused on housing, safe streets, and a thriving economy in Santa Monica, California. We strive for fact-based, civil discourse and advocate for policies that make Santa Monica a more inclusive, sustainable, and livable city for all. Learn more at santamonicaforward.org.
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