No Red Lights

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​Residents of Santa Monica Sunset Park
October 1, 2020


Santa Monica Mayor, ​City Council, and City Attorney
1685 Main Street, Room 209
Santa Monica, California 90401
E-mail: [email protected]
​

RE: Request for Help with Santa Monica’s New Red Light Area Near SMO

Dear Santa Monica Mayor, City Council Members, and City Attorney:

Thank you for the planned closure of Santa Monica Airport.  While the closure process proceeds, negative impacts are continuing and we are now requesting your assistance with resolving a new problem involving Santa Monica Airport, the FAA, and Southern California Edison (SCE).  Bright red lights are now being installed on utility poles around Sunset Park and they are negatively impacting the neighborhood with persistent and invasive light pollution.  Please see the attached photos below.

Background
In August 2020, red lights began to shine brightly into the Sunset Park neighborhood from utility poles in the neighborhood.  The lights operate seven days a week from sunset to sunrise, even when the airport is closed.  The extremely bright red light color is illuminating the exterior and interior of homes, yards, streets, and sky with a powerful red glow from dusk until dawn.  More red lights are planned to be installed shortly.

A complaint was filed recently with SCE and the issue was brought to the attention of the Santa Monica Airport Staff and the Santa Monica Airport Commission.  Through some rudimentary discussions and communications, we learned that the FAA determined the utility poles are an obstruction to the navigable airspace and that SCE is mitigating the purported obstruction by installing bright red lights on top of the utility poles.  No documentation or public review of this issue had been presented beforehand to the impacted Sunset Park neighborhood.  We question whether the utility poles are in fact an obstruction to the navigable airspace.

We respectfully request that the City take the following actions to assist Sunset Park residents:
  • Contact Southern California Edison and demand that they stop operation of the lights immediately until a resolution is identified.
  • Request documentation from the FAA and SCE about how they determined the utility poles are an obstruction and how they developed the plans to mitigate it.
  • Request that the FAA and/or SCE hold an online public meeting to discuss this issue and present alternative solutions.


Sincerely,
Residents of Santa Monica Sunset Park
(see signatories below)
Photo 1: Red light on top of utility pole but below the height of tree.
Photo 2: Red light illuminating Sunset Park neighborhood.
Photo 3: Red light illuminating the interior of a home.
Photo 4: Red light shining through windows of a home.
The 200+ authors and signatories are below.
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Over 200+ authors and signatories as of December 11, 2020 at 10:30 AM:
​Catherine Napier + Jonathan Ornstein + William Robertson +  Jeff DeFlorio + Stuart Schurmann + Nancy Owens + George Jessup + Donna Rosescu + Laurance Moore + Kaveh Karim + Ben Mankienze + Gavin Scott + Michelle Mankienze + Nicola Scott + Deborah Waynesmith + Lorri Benson + Robert Von Bareen + Troy Evangelho + Jennifer Harris + Scott Harris + Rebecca Nelson + Sharon Ryan + Jennifer Saul + David Ryan + Tony Princiotta + David Guyette + Janet Guyette + Padriez Foran + Isabel Guthrie + Larry Beaufait + FOB + Tova Larsen + Summer + Rafael Casillas + Mathew Renham + Gyal Shariloroch + James Gardiner + James Wheatley-Grosbee + Alan Levenson + Ellen Mark + Meg Murphy + Yvonne Guy + Mia Levenson + Stephen Li + Mel Clark + Elin Katz + Andrea Morgan + Josh Kriteman + Patricia Laurie + Devon Pothier + Joanna Lipari + Kenny Fields + Jeffrey Felz + Socorro Gallegos + Betsy Katz + Azzit Hussain + Anita Byrd + Minda Johnstone + Diane Reynolds + Lisa Sandbank + John Machtinger + David Konell + Igor Meglic + E Arias + Annie Sabroux + Dawn Joyal + Scott Harris + Dorothy Chapman + Brian Kelly + Cindy Bendat + Kirsten Campisi + Clare Baum + Vasara Schwafer + Joy Abbott + Ken Abbott + Fabrizio Giorgi + Marta Vago + Paola Eisman Levenson + Sam Levenson + Megan FitzGerald + Lauren de la Fuente + Andrew Wilder + Stephan Hewitt + Karen Blechman + Caroline Denyer + Dana Palmer + Jessica Travy + Michael Brodsky + Anne Arikian + Andrew Klungness + Olivia Kelly + David Abramis + Susan Emmet Reid + John Londono + Zina Josephs + Linda Wilson + Stephen Manes + Eric Weingarten + Nora Foran + Adrian Harewood + John Humble + Andrew Denyer​ + Susan Grant + Barbara Blankenship + Sarah Mourra +  Fae Horowitz + William Sadler + Sharon Ryan + Ken Palmer + Charleen Smith + Gizelle Strohkendl + Marion Klein + Cathy Tieri + Jamie Dunham + Joseph Hardin​ + Laurie Charchut + John Campisi + Brenda Goodman + Olivia Kelly + Jay Fuchs + Jonny Pray + Cathy Tieri + Joanne Curtis + Tina Grossman + James Donaldson + Marla Eby + Grace DeVoll + David Kabashima + Anh Nguyen + Billy Nistico​ + Cathy Gribble + Anh Nguyen + Joey Reynolds + Shelly Nahass + Alvin Crown + Alice Haberman Ellis + An-Louise Johansson + William C. Purdy + Janet Tunick + Lynn Gephart + Ruth Shari + Susan Shapiro  + Lynn Novatt + David Sirh + Howard Kuttler + Katharine Dreyfuss + Joseph Hardin + Richard Bresler + Taffy Patton + David Tunick + carrie davies + Michael Osment + Cris Armstrong  + Kathy Cody + Adrian Harewood  + Jake Guyette + Catherine Gentile + Deirdre Shaw Gibson + Ted Braun + Ron OMeara + Barbara O'Meara + Gianluca Ventura + Georgia Jessup + Joseph Owens + Raina Gardiner + Stacey Abrams-Sherick + Jon Mann + Dawn Joyal + Jonny Pray + Jeffrey Felz + Cindy Bendat + David Sirh + Joseph Schmitz + Mark Abdou + Cheryl Armon + Jan-Peter Flack + Jane Dempsey + John Murdock + Michael Osment + Lara Osment + Deborah Waynesmith + Ann-Louise Johansson + Jorge Pardo + Ofer Grossman + Adrian Harewood + Cathy Larson + Patty Laurie + Skip Laurie  + Edward Jacobs + Vicki Fisher Lerer + Kathy Seal + Patricia Braun + Robert Wirtschafter  + Janet Tunick + Clint Malin + Barry Friesen + Laura German + Justine Lowe

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redlight-letter_and_signatures-final.pdf
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Additional comments submitted by signatories:
  • "No residential neighborhood should have light pollution like this forced on them. It is extremely regressive and harmful to the health of residents."
  • "Surely there’s a community-input driven solution to this...!!"
  • "Our neighborhood is not a “red light district”. Stop the installation. Remove the ones already installed. We deserve peace, quiet, freedom from intrusive ambient light, and prohibition of planes landing and taking off over our houses at night."
  • "Please don't waste tax payer money on unnecessary lights!"
  • "Keep your promise and don’t succumb to the few wealthy."
  • "I can’t wait for the airport to close and cease the flying of polluting loud airplanes over my neighborhood."
  • "This airport should have been closed 5 years ago. The particulate matter that falls in our air is not safe. REMOVE the red lights."
  • "These lights make absolutely zero sense. There are trees I'm looking at right now that are taller than the poles these red lights are put on. And the airport is lit up like a Christmas tree when pilots fly in. I can see no logical reason for them. And at night they are incredibly intrusive. In my backyard now I see a great big red light. I walk out onto my front yard (Marine St) and I see another red light across the way. Please remove these eye-sores ASAP."
  • "One Of these abominations shines into our back windows ALL NIGHT !!!!!"
  • "Thank you for your help resolving this real problem."
  • "Red lights makes no sense given the airport closing and they have never been used before. These lights are a nuisance and everyone will be safer when there are no more planes landing over out neighborhoods."
  • "We already live with more than enough light pollution!"
  • "SHUT THIS POLLUTING AIRPORT DOWN NOW!"
  • "I believe this action on the part of the FAA is simply to aggravate the community. Surely this affects people who are pro-Airport as well as anti-jet. After all these years, WHY NOW???"
  • "These new lights are a huge diminishment to our enjoyment of our property."
  • "TOTALLY unnecessary! Please protect our homeowner rights with an appeal to the FAA for reconsideration."
  • "We don’t want lights."
  • "Ever been to the Red Light District in Amsterdam?  That’s what it looks like outside my bedroom. Bright Red Lights. 
    Yuck!  Not a restful view before bedtime."
  • "I do not understand the continual lack of communication and consideration to the surrounding neighborhood! Would you want this in your backyard?"
  • "If a neighbor put up these lights that were shining into another backyard, there would be an uproar and the City would crack down. The FAA shouldn't be allowed to do this - especially not without any public process or input."
  • "Why are these lights suddenly needed? It is a form of light pollution."
  • "Get rid of that airport!"
  • "please no red lights!"
  • "#%@&-ing seriously?!"
  • "get rid of this airport ASAP! Why do we even need lights for this? makes no sense to me at all."
  • "I do not need any more Light  or Noise Pollution in my neighborhood."
  • "This is horrible nuisance for homeowners. How is this even allowed in our neighborhood without a vote."
  • "At the very least, the lights need to be turned off from 11pm to 7am . The airport is supposed to be closed during those hours!!! Thanks for your hard work."
  • "These planes continue to fly over Santa Monica after take off, as opposed to going out over the ocean, as required. I'm so sick and tired of it."
  • "Close the airport!"
  • "Please help eliminate these. Totally unessesary and we need to stay the course of minimizing any impact the airport has on residents until it’s closure."
  • "I respect the rights of the airport, but it is frustrating how things keep changing that are really inconsiderate to the neighbors. The lights are definitely a nuisance."
  • "No airplanes would make us safer, not more lights!"
  • "Stop harassing us in Sunset Park!"
  • "Master plan for the homeless.  Eliminate aggressive black crow colony ---widespread"
  • "There seems to be an increase in helicopter traffic over Sunset Park. These helicopters seem to be flying dangerously low. I am a concerned citizen reacting and reaching out about this."
  • "These lights disrupt my son’s sleep as the go right into his bedroom."
  • "Please work with Edison to remove these annoying lights in our neighborhood. The issue for aviation safety seems unproven after all these years without them."
  • "It appears that the lighting provided is overkill  in relation to the problem to be solved. I am sure that inquiring minds can come to an appropriate solution."
  • "At least have the red lights turned off from 10:00pm until 7:00am!!!"
  • "Please remove these obnoxious lights!!"
  • "Maybe a deflector so light shines Up Where the planes are, not out and down Into peoples windows."
  • "This feels unnecessary and not well planned, please don't install these red lights."
  • "Wtf?!"
  • "These lights will ruin Sunset Park. It seems as if everything South of Wilshire is forgotten in Santa Monica."
  • "This airport has operated for one hundred years without red lights. please remove them! The lights are disturbing the peace around the Sunset Park Neighborhood. Since the Airport tower doesn't operate at night the plane flights are few and far (if at all) between during the night time hours. "
  • "These lights are so bright not only do they disrupt our lives, but they cause head aches, eye aches and nausea!  TURN THE RED LIGHTS OFF."
  • "This needs to be addressed, effects were not considered when implemented."
  • "We have trees in the area taller than the electric power poles.  There are 4KV lines stretched across the alley between 21st and 23rd streets that are higher than the poles with the red lights.  These 4KV lines have been there for more than 50 years without any incidents with aircraft."
  • "Please stop sacrificing the residents in favor of companies and non-residents!"
  • "Bright red light flows in my back windows all night !!  Hate them."
  • "Keep your promise and don’t succumb to the few wealthy."
  • "The lights keep my son up at night, they are very bright and shine into his bedroom."
  • "To the best of my knowledge, these lights are 'optional.'  It's unacceptably arrogant to place them with no prior coordination with residents. And to leave them on when the airport tower is closed demonstrates just how little all the entities that placed them care about residents' well-being."
  • "The red lights are annoying and unnecessary."
  • "let's not exceed requirements for an airport that will finally close in a few years."
  • "Santa Monica"
  • "These red lights are unnecessary and a nuisance, please remove ASAP!  Thank you!"
  • "Please remove the lights"
  • "Needless and redundant lights adding to light pollution and homeowner inconveniences."
  • "These are annoying to the neighborhood, are not required and will have to be removed when the airport is closed in any case."
  • "TAKE THEM DOWN!"
  • "Please stop these red light blasting thru are windows at night"
  • "The red lights are horrible here in our neighborhood who let this happen?"
  • "Please tell SCE to stop."
  • "Red lights not needed. Please do not install."
  • "Please stop the red lights."
  • "Remove lights."