By Jorge Casuso

July 10, 2025 -- The City Council on Tuesday voted 6 to 1 to move ahead with a plan to convert 192 acres of airport land into a "Great Park" that excludes, and does not immediately study, housing.

The vote represents a cautious approach by a staunchly pro-housing Council that was strongly lobbied by its political backers to include some 3,000 units of affordable and workforce housing.

But Council members worried that opening up the prospect of housing on the site -- which would require a vote of the people -- could delay, or even derail, plans for a park when the airport closes at the end of 2028.

The vote "is not foreclosing the opportunity for housing in the future," said Councilmember Caroline Torosis. "We all need to be clear on what the goal is here."

By placing a measure on the ballot to include housing on the site before the airport closes, Torosis said, "we risk having 192 acres sit empty while we wait, potentially increasing vulnerabilities to crime."

Councilmember Jesse Zwick, who cast the lone dissenting vote, noted that simply studying housing would not delay or jeopardize plans for a park.

"Public land is the only opportunity we have to build the housing that is desperately needed for our workforce," Zwick said.

"I cannot conscionably give up 192 acres without devoting at least one acre to this desperate need that we have."

Mayor Lana Negrete said it was crucial to have a plan that allows the City to "phase" in a park over time "so we don't just fence off a massive dead zone" that could become "a homeless encampment."

She pointed to ongoing efforts to revive the Civic Auditorium, which has not held a public event in more than a dozen years.

"I don't think we can afford another vacant promise," Negrete said. "This is my biggest fear. We have one shot at this thing."

The Council vote came after more than 1,000 members of the public weighed in both in person and in letters to the Council and was preceded by a rally by pro-park advocates outside City Hall.

Among those pushing for a scenario that includes housing on the site was Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights (SMRR) and the Hotel Workers Union, which paid for a survey released before the meeting that showed support for workforce housing ("Council Set for Airport Land Showdown," July 8, 2025).

A substitute motion to explore uses, including housing, that would require a ballot measure failed by a 3 to 4 vote, with Councilmembers Natalya Zernitskaya and Barry Snell joining Zwick in the minority vote.

The Council's discussion of uses for Santa Monica's version of Central Park included playing fields, trails and gardens, an amphitheater, an urban forest, a reservoir, food halls and public art.

The airport site, Councilmember Dan Hall said, represents a "once in generations chance" to create a space "that strengthens our bodies and minds, heals nature and really lets our spirits soar."

"Santa Monica needs housing,, period," Hall said. "But at the airport we need a park. Every inch of green space we give up, we'll never get back."

Mayor Negrete, however, worried that "we've dragged people along these hopes and dreams and wishes, and I fear that very little of that will come true" because "it may not be feasible."

Before discussing "concepts and options," the Mayor said, the Ciy needs "to understand the costs environmentally, economically and practically."

"Like many in the community, I dreamed of a great park and I still do," Negrete said. "But I've also learned that dreaming without planning is extremely dangerous.

"And I can't pretend that what we're doing tonight isn't missing this fundamental step."