We want to hear from you! City launches third phase of Airport Conversion Project engagement
April 9, 2025 7:26 AM
by Amber Richane
The city continues to seek the community’s input on the future of the Santa Monica Airport site, launching a third phase of public outreach and engagement this week.
Community members can watch a new virtual education session and then weigh in with a new online survey open through April 27.
The aim of this phase of engagement is to gather input from the community on specific uses and configurations for the site, centered on a great park, using a ranked choice voting system. It builds on the previous input gathered by the project team since the community engagement process kicked off in May 2024 and the Guiding Principles adopted by the City Council in early 2025.
Phase 3A is broken into two parts, culminating in the development of three scenarios for the airport site that will be presented to the City Council in July.
In this first Phase 3A survey, community members are asked to rank their preferences in six different areas of site design, called “layers.”
These “layers” offer a unique way to visualize what different aspects of the site might look like. For each of the below, you’ll view four options showing different configurations and be asked to consider questions such as:
- Connectivity & mobility – how many access points do you think there should be to the site, and what should the pedestrian experience be?
- Water & topography – should there be a stream running throughout the park, or a lake in the center? Should the community be able to recreate on the water?
- Ecology – how much, if any, of the site should be dedicated to habitat restoration and other ecological initiatives?
- Activities – what portion of the park do you want dedicated to sports, recreation, the arts and other active uses?
- Housing – what percentage, if any, of the site do you think should be reserved for housing?
- Revenue generation – what do you think the balance should be for revenue-generating opportunities? Would you rather have more revenue-generating spaces if that funds more green space?
For a more in-depth explanation of these layers, why they matter, and what the city is asking, view the virtual education session here and then take the survey here.
The information gathered from this survey will inform three scenarios that will be publicized for additional community feedback in mid-May.
Save the date for a community event related to these scenarios on May 17 at the Santa Monica Airport.
We’ll also invite additional input on the scenarios through a second online experience, available in late May thru mid-June.
The three scenarios and community input will be shared with the City Council on July 8. At that meeting, the City Council will provide feedback and direction on the scenarios for staff to incorporate into one new preferred scenario that will encompass all of the feedback to date. This preferred scenario will then be the subject of an additional round of community input in the Fall of 2025 for Phase 3B.
Separate from this outreach, and as directed by City Council, the city also put out a request for Letters of Interest for ideas and partnerships for the airport site that deepen our community as a vibrant, safe, sustainable, resilient, mobile, culturally rich, ethnically diverse and equitable place that serves the needs of the entire community and fosters a thriving local economy. Apply now through 5 p.m. on May 5 at tinyurl.com/SMACPPartnership.
The Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project is a multi-year planning effort for Santa Monica to create a preferred scenario for the future of the airport site once aviation operations end in 2028, centered on a great park and consistent with Measure LC. There are five distinct planning phases within a 21-month process, anticipated to conclude with the adoption of a preferred scenario by the Santa Monica City Council by the end of 2025.
Please bookmark smacproject.com and check back for the latest on the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project.
Authored By
Amber Richane
Principle Design and Planning Manager