Santa Monica Releases Airport Impact Report

Santa Monica city officials have released the long-awaited final chapter of an environmental impact report on a huge and controversial office complex at Santa Monica Airport.

The two-inch-thick report is not expected to curb the debate that surrounds the 1.4-million-square-foot project, the target of protest from Los Angeles officials and numerous homeowner groups.

But release of the report advances the project, clearing one more hurdle in its slow and tortuous journey to the Santa Monica Planning Commission and City Council.

The report examines alternatives to the project and suggests that although some of its negative effects can be reduced, almost anything built on the 37.5-acre site on the airport’s southern side will worsen Westside traffic, sewage and pollution problems.

Supreme Court Ruling

Santa Monica planners were forced to write the supplemental section of the environmental report--in the works for more than five months--after a state Supreme Court ruling late last year.

The court, in a decision hailed as a victory for environmentalists, held that a public agency must disclose all potential effects of a project--including effects of alternatives to the project--for any given site.

In the report released last week, city planners examine 15 alternatives for the site. The study looks at what would happen if a smaller building is constructed, if nothing is built or if something other than the original project, such as a shopping mall, a hotel or a park, is built.

In some cases, changing the project significantly or reducing its size might ease the impact on traffic or pollution, but the amount of money it would generate would also be reduced.

The alternatives examined in the environmental report were chosen based on suggestions from the public or staff members.

“There is nothing too extraordinarily mind-boggling that came out (in the study),” Santa Monica Planning Director Paul Berlant said. “For a smaller project, there are fewer impacts.”

Among the report’s findings:

By reducing the size of the project to about 900,000 square feet, congestion at key area intersections would be substantially less than what the proposed project would cause. Air and noise pollution would be a problem, however, and the amount of money that the city stands to earn would be cut by 42%.

At least two alternatives--a business park with hotel and health club, and a light-industrial complex--would create “unavoidable impacts” in almost as many area intersections as the proposed project. And some, such as a regional shopping mall, would tie up traffic even worse.

One alternative would expand the airport, building an additional 60 hangars, an aeronautical school, an arts center and a hotel. Car traffic would be less, but airplane noise would increase.

Some alternatives, such as a 200-room hotel or a regional park with soccer fields and baseball diamonds, would create few traffic problems but would drastically reduce or eliminate the amount of money the city would make.

The report also looked at what would happen if no project were built. The airport would probably expand, increasing the number of airplane tie-downs and adding two fixed-based operators. Although it would not exacerbate traffic or pollution, it would not produce any income for the city.

“The no-project alternative would not meet the project objectives of providing a significant revenue stream to the city, to develop a project that meets the needs of today’s market and the future needs of its many users,” the report concludes.

Available to Public

The report will be available for public review and comment until June 26, when the city’s planning staff will prepare its response. The full report is expected to go before the Planning Commission in August.

Santa Monica officials say the project is crucial to the financial well-being of the city, which would receive at least $10 million a year in lease revenues, as well as $7 million for parks, public art and housing.

As proposed, the $280-million project includes eight six-story office buildings and a movie studio. The city chose the Reliance Development Group for the project.

Neighboring homeowners, Los Angeles City Council members and some of Santa Monica’s council members are calling for a drastic reduction in the size of the project. Santa Monica’s planning staff has recommended a 20% reduction, to about 1 million square feet, but opponents say that is not enough.