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A ballot initiative to put housing on the Santa Monica airport is officially dead — for now
Aerial view of the Santa Monica Airport
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Konabish - Greg Bishop via Flickr
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A ballot initiative to put housing on the Santa Monica airport is officially dead — for now
Proponents of a plan to set aside a quarter of the land at the soon-to-close Santa Monica Airport for housing failed to turn in enough signatures to place their measure on a future ballot. Instead, they say, they'll try to work with the City Council to get income-restricted housing included in the redevelopment plan. Jill Replogle reports.
Proponents of a plan to set aside a quarter of the land at the soon-to-close Santa Monica Airport for housing failed to turn in enough signatures to place their measure on a future ballot. Instead, they say, they'll try to work with the City Council to get income-restricted housing included in the redevelopment plan.
The Santa Monica Airport is slated to close at the end of 2028, leaving the city with a rare opportunity to repurpose 192 acres of land on L.A. County’s expensive Westside. That land is currently slated for public use. In 2014, the city’s voters supported a ballot measure to essentially turn the airport into Santa Monica’s version of New York City’s Central Park.
But affordable housing advocates and Unite Here Local 11, a union representing hospitality workers, had hoped to ask voters to reserve a quarter of the land for up to 3,000 units of income-restricted housing.
What’s new
Plans for a housing-related ballot measure have now stalled.
Proponents already missed a June deadline to turn in enough signatures to qualify their measure for the November 2026 ballot. On Wednesday, they missed a new deadline to deliver enough signatures to qualify for the ballot during the November 2028 presidential election.
Ralph Mechur, a spokesperson for Cloverfield Commons, which backed the now-defunct ballot initiative, said the group plans to instead advocate for City Council to approve housing as part of the airport redevelopment plan.
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Despite the group’s failure to collect enough signatures, he said, “ It's clear that there is support in the community for affordable housing or market-rate housing … We hope that after the election, when the council is seated … they will have that discussion on the dais and include housing in their planning.”
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Opposition celebrates
Advocates of dedicating all of the airport land to public space said the ballot initiative’s failure was “not surprising.”
“The community remains committed to the Santa Monica Airport Conversion Project and the public process of creating a great park,” Frank Gruber, a spokesperson for the Santa Monica Great Park Coalition, said in a statement.
He added that “reclaiming the land for a great public park … will benefit the public for decades to come.”
Union workers who supported the initiative said they had hoped to see more affordable housing options in Santa Monica, a city with plenty of job opportunities but few apartments within their budgets.
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Proponents could resurrect the proposal in a future ballot initiative, but they would have to start from scratch with a new petition.
The city is currently collecting input from residents to flesh out plans for the airport land. You can find out more and sign up for updates on the city’s website.
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