Santa Monica : Hearing on Airport Project

Opponents of a proposed commercial and retail office complex next to Santa Monica Airport blasted the project at a public hearing before the Santa Monica City Council Tuesday, but an anticipated swarm of opposition never appeared.

The City Council heard testimony from more than 80 speakers--about two-thirds opposed to the Santa Monica Commons project--but the crowd of 150 was significantly smaller than had been expected. More than 500 people attended a public hearing on the matter before the Santa Monica Planning Commission three weeks ago.

“This is a pretty small number of opponents for a project of this size,” said Chris Harding, attorney and spokesman for the project developer, Reliance Development Group. “We anticipated many more opponents. I think this shows that we have a lot of support out there.”

City staff opened the Tuesday hearing with a recommendation that the council approve either a substantially scaled-back version of the plan approved by the Planning Commission, or accept a larger proposal that could have potential problems.

The council is expected to vote on the matter next week.

An earlier version of the project was slashed from its original size of more than 1 million square feet after residents of the area told the Planning Commission that such a large project would cause traffic problems.

Because of its location next to the airport, opponents said, most of the traffic generated by the 29-acre project would pass through West Los Angeles, which would not share in revenues from the proposal.

Santa Monica residents from the Sunset Park area also bitterly opposed the project, saying it would destroy their neighborhood with traffic, dust, and noise.

A poll commissioned by the developer and released Tuesday indicated that 54% of Santa Monica residents, including a large sample from the Sunset Park area, favor the Santa Monica Commons project, compared to 34% opposed. The poll did not survey Los Angeles residents.

City officials have said revenue from the project--perhaps as much as $27 million in the next 10 years from lease payments and taxes--could be used to bolster sagging social service, educational, and park programs.