The Santa Monica Airport will close effective midnight on December 31, 2028.
The 192-acres of public land will then transform from Private Aviation uses to Public Parkland and Community Spaces per the January 2017 SMO Consent Decree (link) and the February 2017 Santa Monica City Council SMO Closure Resolution #11026 (link). The 2014 Santa Monica Charter Amendment LC (link) will protect the land when the airport closes and no new development of the land is allowed without approval by the voters of Santa Monica, except for parks, public open spaces, and public recreational facilities; and the maintenance and replacement of existing cultural, arts and education uses.
The transition of the land actually began many decades ago as overall private aviation use consistently declined over time (link). The City has already shortened the runway and has been expanding the excess parts of the airport land and facilities into parks and community spaces for public recreation, cultural, arts, commercial, and educational uses. Clover Park, Airport Park, Santa Monica Antique Market, Museum of Flying, Ruskin Group Theatre, The Barker Hangar Event Space, Santa Monica College Ceramics Art Studio, Cloverfield Restaurant, and Santa Monica Art Studios are examples of current uses on the non-aviation portion of the airport land (link). The Santa Monica Business Park to the north and Santa Monica College Bundy Campus to the south are not on the Airport land.
Today, the City of Santa Monica together with our local community are continuing with this exciting transformation of our public land. Looking forward, the City and residents are in the midst of the planning process for the complete transition of the land to public park and community spaces for everyone to use and enjoy.
Join us in shaping the future of our public land (link).
2017 Airport Diagram. The purple dashed line outlines the SMO Airport land.
