SANTA MONICA—On Friday, May 10, the city of Santa Monica announced that the city will kick off the official community engagement process for the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project at a community event on Sunday, May 19, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Clover Park. The event will be held at 2600 Ocean Park Blvd., in the BBQ Area No. 1, which is on the east side of the park.
The kickoff event will be a community open house, featuring multiple stations for community members to listen, to learn, and to share ideas with the team about plans for the future of Santa Monica and the airport land.
The community engagement process is expected to be a 21-month effort to determine a preferred scenario for the future of the airport site, focused on a “Great Park”, consistent with the 2014 voter-approved Measure LC.
The preferred scenario, once approved by the Santa Monica City Council, will inform the environmental review process required by the California Environmental Quality Act.
Implementation would start after the airport operations end, anticipated on December 31, 2028, as agreed upon with the Federal Aviation Administration in the 2017 Consent Decree.
Following the event at Clover Park, the city’s contracted consultant team, led by Sasaki, will continue to communicate with the public at community events and other venues.
Community members can email TheFutureofSMO@santamonica.gov with questions about the community engagement process. The community website smacproject.com provides an email sign-up option for project updates and will soon expand to include the first survey, engagement timelines, virtual learning sessions and more.
By Trevor