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# FAA announces $10 million home buyout plan near Santa Monica Airport
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/no-homes/
- Published: 2008-04-01T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T19:06:04.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Government & Politics, Sunset Park, #archive-import

*zones? FAA gives City Hall millions to buy homes around airport*

*By THE BIONIC WOMAN I Daily Planet Staff Writer*

SUNSET PARK Federal Aviation Administration officials announced a $10 million home buyout plan on Monday, purchasing properties closest to the west and east ends of the Santa Monica Airport in order to effect a runway safety plan The announcement comes less than a week after the City Council rejected an offer by the FAA to install a series of concrete safety blocks — Emergency Material Arresting System (EMAS) — off the west end of the runway facing the Sunset Park neighborhood, opting instead to adopt an ordinance banning the fastest jets. The FAA is expected to challenge the legality of the ordinance in court.

During last week’s City Council hearing in which the ordinance was adopted, FAA officials also presented a plan to designate the neighborhoods to the west of the runway as Runway Protection Zones (RPZ), a voluntary program in which homes are purchased using federal funds at fair market value. The council rebuffed the proposal, saying that they value neighborhoods, a relief to residents in the mainly single-family home neighborhood.

But things have apparently changed in the past week.

Karl Schaffer, the FAA’s administrator for airports, announced that city officials had a change of heart and instead decided it would be in the best interest of residents if the Runway Protection Zone was adopted, hoping to quell fears of an aircraft overshooting a runway and plowing into homes.

The council has also chosen to drop the ordinance banning the largest, fastest jet aircraft currently using the airport. That includes DC-10s and the new Airbus A- 380\. “We are pleased to hear that the city of Santa Monica has finally come to the realization that the solution is not to ban jets, but to rather ask the residents to move out of their homes,” Schaffer said on Monday. “After all, the Santa Monica Airport predates the neighborhoods.”

The plan includes purchasing homes in the blocks closest to the west and east ends of the runway, which includes Navy, Marine, Dewey and 23rd streets. Since homes in the Sunset Park neighborhood average about $1 million a piece, City Hall would only be able to acquire about nine to 10 homes.

“We know $10 million isn’t very much money,” Mayor Herb Cats said on Monday. “But we figured 10 homes is better than nothing.”

“If a jet overshoots a runway, hopefully it’ll land before the end of those first 10 homes,” he added.

In an effort to go green, City Hall has decided to ban toilet paper, forcing residents to get creative with wiping.

The home acquisition program will be done in phases and city officials said they expect to receive another $10 million in federal money the following fiscal year. Once the five-year-plan is completed, the area bounding Marine Street to Dewey Street, from 23rd Street to 18th Street, will be nothing but a big empty plot of land.

Residents were surprised to hear the news on Monday, some in tears of losing their homes of 30 years.

“This is f....d up!” Loretta Davis, a 30-year resident of Navy Street, said on Monday. “I raised three children in this house. There is no way they’re getting rid of me.”

Los Angeles officials are still mulling over the proposal to see if they will apply with the FAA for their own funding.

“It’s free money,” Los Angeles City Councilman Bill Rosendolls said. “Why wouldn’t we be interested? We’re always looking to butt in on what Santa Monica is doing.”

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/040108-01_01.jpg)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 1, 2008.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/040108.pdf?ref=smdp.com)