College’s offer to finance Airport Park in return for an underground garage on hold
SM AIRPORT — Santa Monica College wants to save local taxpayers more than $8 million, but not without some strings attached.
SMC is willing to spend $8.2 million to pay for a new city park at the airport in exchange for permission to construct a parking garage underneath it. However, city officials don’t necessarily want SMC’s money.
City officials were caught off guard last week when SMC mailed a flyer to residents who live near the airport inviting them to comment on its idea to cover the costs of the already planned Airport Park while covering some of its own long-term plans for a satellite campus.
City Hall already has commented, and it doesn’t appear too favorable for SMC. In response to the mailer, city staff released a report on March 25, which makes the case why City Hall should go forward with the Santa Monica Airport Park as originally planned, providing little information why the City Council would accept the college’s recent call for a joint project.
SMC has proposed to pay for Airport Park, which will include two new soccer fields and a dog park, in exchange for the right to build the underground parking structure at the college’s expense.
The city’s staff report is addressed to policy makers and those who expect to attend SMC’s “visioning” workshop — to include public comment on the long-term planning of SMC’s Bundy satellite campus near the airport — scheduled for 7 p.m. today at the Barker Hangar, 3021 Airport Ave. City staff indicated in its report to elected leaders that the results of tonight’s meeting would have little impact without City Hall approval.
One reason why SMC is offering to pay for the park could lie in the fact that it will lose a crucial shuttle parking lot, which serves 1,700 students a day. SMC uses the lot to shuttle students to its main campus on Pico Boulevard — and it must remove it in order to accommodate the park — unless the college can come to an agreement with the Santa Monica City Council, according to city staff.
The city’s airport park project was created in response to unmet community demand for active recreation space, the city report said. A feasibility study was completed in 1997 to determine how to best meet the demand for available land at Santa Monica Airport.
The resulting project includes the development of 8.3 acres at the southeasterly end of the airport. The park will have one lighted regulation-size soccer field that also can serve as two smaller fields; a picnic area; a children’s playground; an off-leash dog area; a park restroom building; a paved walking/jogging path and 116 spaces of on-site parking. SMC is proposing to contribute between $6 and $26 million to the project in exchange for parking use at the city-owned facility, but the proposal would require City Hall to overhaul its plans, an option elected leaders say has been sprung on them at the last minute.
“It amazes me that the college would circulate a proposal to develop land that is not their own,” said City Councilman Ken Genser. “If the college says it wants to work more cooperatively with the city, I think we have a much further way to go than we thought.”
City Hall has budgeted for the $8.2 million project from capital improvement and general fund money and has received a $1.5 million grant from the state for the installation of synthetic turfs for the soccer fields.
The city staff report said plans for the project are final and bid documents for construction are to be circulated and awarded by May, with construction expected to be completed in fall of 2006.
SMC plans to open its Santa Monica Airport campus this summer. SMC has a 10.4-acre satellite campus at 3171 S. Bundy Dr., purchased from BAE Systems in December 2001 for $30 million. A number of site improvements, including the removal of a 100,000-square-foot building, a new sound wall and landscaping were completed in 2004 with neighborhood consensus, according SMC officials.
An existing 64,000-square-foot building is currently being renovated to house programs to be offered starting this summer, including nursing, teacher training and professional development.
SMC officials say the shuttle lot relieves parking and traffic conditions in residential neighborhoods around the college’s main campus.
Herbert Roney, a member of the Santa Monica Community College Board of Trustees, said he sees how the proposal could be good for both the city and the college.
“It could be a win-win situation,” Roney said. “The airport will continue to be used for many types of events. It would be good to have plenty of parking on the site that could be utilized by everyone.”
City staff said a date has yet to be determined when the SMC airport proposal will be presented to the City Council, but will likely occur in April.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on March 29, 2005. Read the original PDF.