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# City Hall appeals injunction on jet ban
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/city-hall-appeals-injunction-on-jet-ban/
- Published: 2008-05-24T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-25T00:05:12.000Z
- Author: Melody Hanatani
- Tags: Crime, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*Legal battle over jet ban continues*

One week after a U.S. District Court judge issued a preliminary injunction allowing commercial jets to operate at Santa Monica Airport, city officials are seeking to reverse the order, filing an appeal in the state appellate court on Friday.

Judge George Wu ruled on May 16 that City Hall could not enforce a stoppage on categories C and D aircraft while the Federal Aviation Administration completes an internal review examining the legality of the ban.

City Hall filed the application for a stay on the district court’s order at the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

“The application argues that the city is likely to succeed on the merits of the case because the city — as airport proprietor — has the power to conform airport usage to airport facilities in order to protect safety,” Kate Vernez, the assistant to the city manager for governmental relations, said.

In addition to the appeal, City Hall is also seeking the appellate court for a stay on the injunction during the appeal process.

“We are confident of our legal position,” FAA spokesman Ian Gregor said.

Both parties have been arguing for decades about runway safety issues at the general aviation airport, which is considered a reliever for LAX. The airport is unique in that there are homes located within 300 feet of both ends of the runway.

Sunset Park residents have expressed concerns about the possibility of an aircraft one day overshooting the runway and landing on homes.

The aviation agency has made several runway safety proposals in the past, including most recently a suggestion to install at 70-knot Emergency Material Arresting System that would be designed to stop roughly 97 percent of operations at the airport and 90 percent of categories C and D jets — the former which approaches the runway at 121-140 knots and the latter at 141-165 knots.

The enhanced safety measures would consume more runway than the 40-knot EMAS, which the FAA previously proposed. Both options were rejected by the City Council as being insufficient.

The ban, adopted in March, was set to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. on April 24 but was suspended by City Hall later that day after the FAA filed a temporary restraining order. The federal agency requested the restraining order in an attempt to enjoin City Hall after it indicated plans to proceed with the ban despite a cease-and-desist order issued the day before the ordinance was to go in effect.

“Our primary concern is safety at Santa Monica Airport and we will continue to press that cause,” Vernez said.

Jump hedline: Legal battle over jet ban continues

Suggested pullquote: Our primary concern is safety at Santa Monica Airport and we will continue to press that cause.”

Kate Vernez

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/052408-01_02.jpg)

(Photo: Photo courtesy)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 24, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052408.pdf?ref=smdp.com)