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FAA orders a halt to evictions of aviation companies at embattled Santa Monica airport
"The Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday ordered Santa Monica to halt the evictions of two aviation companies at its municipal airport until the agency can finish an investigation into the city’s effort to shut down the facility" (www.latimes.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
So the FAA does have a spine after all. Let's see how far they are going to go to protect aviation in that area.
The City of Santa Monica will ignore them. The city attorney has warned the city council in the past that their course was likely to be unsuccessful, but the council is hell-bent on getting rid of the airport, regardless of the legality and economic consequences.
The City of Santa Monica topped its bi-monthly newsletter Nov-Dec 2016 Seascape with an article on the history and future of the airport from the city's perspective. It also provides the status on the 5 priority strategic goals of the city. #1 is maintaining an inclusive and diverse community, #3 is closing the airport. (#4 addresses the homeless)
If interested, you can read it here:
http://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/CMO/CommGovRel/2016/Seascape%202016%20Nov%20Dec.pdf
If interested, you can read it here:
http://www.smgov.net/uploadedFiles/Departments/CMO/CommGovRel/2016/Seascape%202016%20Nov%20Dec.pdf
Why do they hate the airport so much? It creates jobs and brings considerable income to the community. On another article there was only a handful of people making a ton of noise abatement complaints.
Commercial real estate goes for about $550/ft^2 in Santa Monica, and it's not like new land is being manufactured. Developers and speculators there have billions of reasons to want to raze the airport and gain 215 acres (over 9 million square feet) of land. I suspect that's really the prime motivator: money.
The rest looks like noise. The most cogent complaints mostly seem to center around vague "safety" concerns, but with no real analysis of the supposed problems or possible mitigation.
The rest looks like noise. The most cogent complaints mostly seem to center around vague "safety" concerns, but with no real analysis of the supposed problems or possible mitigation.
In a parallel squawk on new air service, I posted a link to the City's bi-monthly newsletter. In that they laid out the plans for park space for the airport. Looks quite nice, but I wonder how long that plan will last if and when it does close. They just swore in the new mayor. A part time position, his day job is in condo sales.
No kidding. Condos. What a surprise.
One of the reasons it's probably disliked is precisely because it creates jobs and economic benefits - perhaps if it was instead said that the airport generated welfare and was a designated sanctuary area the average citizen of Santa Monica would love the airport wholeheartedly.
Another is the developers who rent the pols want to tear up the 'tarmac' for condo projects including at most 3 token 'affordable housing' units.