In response to the letter from Venice resident Angela Eren, most of the things she values about Santa Monica Airport (SMO) do not require that business jets land and take off directly over homes in West Los Angeles, Santa Monica, and northern Venice. For example: the annual Airport Art Walk, the Ruskin Group Theater, the children’s playground and soccer games at Airport Park, the dog park, the Spitifire Grill, and the Museum of Flying. Most of the businesses and jobs on the 227-acre Airport “campus” are not aviation-related. The heights of the high rises that she fears will be built are controlled by municipal zoning codes. Measure LC, passed 60-40 by Santa Monica voters in 2014, amended the City Charter to specifically protect the Airport property from over-development.
What really stinks are the noxious and unhealthy fumes that blow into West Los Angeles from business jets when they idle or take off at SMO; the soot from partially burned jet fuel that is left on plants, lawn furniture, and children’s play equipment; the horrendous noise from both the jet takeoffs and the reverse thrusters when the jets land on the too-short runway, both early in the morning and late at night; the lead from the Avgas used by the piston-powered planes as student pilots endlessly practice their landings and takeoffs; and the $13 million in General Fund (i.e., taxpayer) money that has been used to subsidize SMO over the years.
Zina Josephs
Santa Monica
