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# Gate opening marks end of decades-long conflict
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/gate-opening-marks-end-of-decades-long-conflict/
- Published: 2005-12-19T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T08:20:09.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica Airport, #archive-import

*Agreement smoothes way for new leaders* both the separate institutions for which we set policy and the shared interests of the community as a whole,” McKeown said. “The city has successfully protected Sunset Park from unacceptable traffic increases, and the college has successfully provided safe access to students for educational opportunities.

“We are mutually extending hopeful trust in each other’s good intentions, and look forward to a more cooperative relationship.”

City Hall and SMC have been close to litigation in recent months regarding the Bundy campus, a 10.4-acre site at 3171 S. Bundy Dr., just south of the Santa Monica Airport.

City Hall’s decision to lock the gates and stop vehicular access to Bundy along Airport Avenue, in Santa Monica, was intended to limit campus-related traffic from traveling west to and from the site through local neighborhoods, city officials said.

However, SMC officials have contend-ed City Hall’s move has been disruptive to college classes and dangerous for students. Students have been entering and exiting Bundy through a driveway at the southern end of the campus, located in Los Angeles. They have been making risky left-hand turns out of the campus and into heavy traffic onto Bundy Drive, college officials said.

What prevented City Hall and SMC from resolving the dispute was a threat by the college to sue Santa Monica if its leadership refused to grant the college vehicular access to Bundy from Airport Avenue, city officials said.

Under the terms of Tuesday’s agreement, SMC will let its statute of limitations run out for any possible lawsuit related to campus traffic, as long as City Hall opens the gates in time for classes to resume at the Bundy campus for the spring, city officials said.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendahl — whose jurisdiction includes areas around the Bundy campus — is trying to have a turn signal placed at the intersection where Bundy meets the site’s southern driveway.

The turn signal also would help ease traffic tensions and may come as early as June. But it will likely not be ready in time for the second semester, Rosendahl said.

On Dec. 5, Dr. Nancy Greenstein and Dr. Susan Aminoff were unanimously elected as chair and vice chair, respectively, of SMC’s board of trustees for 2006.

Their nominations were intended, in part, to help improve relations with Santa Monica City Hall, college officials said. Greenstein is on good terms with several Santa Monica city councilmembers, and both Greenstein and Aminoff are generally regarded for their diplomatic approach to solving problems, college officials said.

Also, City Hall and SMC both have new top administrators. Lamont Ewell, new city manager, and Dr. Chui Tsang, SMC’s new president, will both embark on their local careers after the holidays.

Greenstein said she is optimistic City Hall’s move is a step in the right direction, but was hesitant to speak on the issue until the agreement is finalized.

“It’s a relief,” Greenstein said. “It will help our new leadership get started on a good note.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on December 19, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/121905.pdf?ref=smdp.com)