Santa Monica's Planning Commission is urging city staff to keep two existing parks in place as the city plans to turn its 192-acre airport into a vast public park, echoing cost concerns raised by another city advisory panel.
In a study session Oct. 7, commissioners approved on a voice vote a recommendation endorsing the first page of a Sept. 21 letter from the city's Recreation and Parks Commission. The letter calls for reconsidering plans to remake Clover Park as an 18-acre walking district called "The Stroll" and to move the 8-acre Airport Park into a new active sports area.
"I just think it's so wasteful to move what we have as an existing park to somewhere else, even on a really long timeline," said Commissioner Jacob Wasserman, who made the motion.
The recreation commission's letter said relocating Clover Park's baseball field, two softball fields, basketball courts and sand volleyball court would use up to 10 of the 40 acres proposed for active sports on replacement facilities rather than new amenities. It said Airport Park, with its dog run, playground, picnic area, restrooms and all-weather soccer field, should remain as is.
Tony Lopez, the city's newly promoted principal design and planning manager, told commissioners that removing Clover Park's fields "isn't something that we would entertain now because that would impact our level of service dramatically." He said the fields could later move to a consolidated sports district as funding allows.
Cost dominated the commission's questions. City staff have not yet produced an estimate for the park.
Commissioner Leslie Lambert said public expectations are "obviously very high because it's beautiful, but if it's ridiculously expensive, frankly, it ain't going to happen."
Chair Josh Hamilton asked whether the process meant "we're going to design it, and then we're going to determine how much it's going to cost, and then we're going to have to come back and redesign it."
Lopez said that is typical for a master plan of this scale. Putting a price on what is essentially a graphic plan would be "a little bit irresponsible," he said, noting the community has suggested about 94 different uses.
Deputy City Manager Peter James compared the choices ahead to picking a car, with options ranging from a Honda to a Lexus.
"We have a plan that's a blueprint. It guides our decisions," James said. But the city has "not determined the level of trim or even the vehicle that we're going to be driving," he said.
Funding could come from public financing, grants and philanthropy, James said, and a fancier park might require a public-private partnership.
Hamilton urged staff to build on existing infrastructure now rather than revise the plan later. "We need to be realistic here, and we should start being realistic at the very beginning of this process," he said.
The recreation commission's letter also proposed converting the Santa Monica Airport Enterprise Zone into a park enterprise zone, so lease revenue would pay for the park. The letter says non-aviation businesses there generate about $20 million to $22 million in revenue a year. James said that decision ultimately belongs to the City Council.
Vice Chair Peer Chacko said he supported most of the letter but hesitated on the enterprise fund idea. "I'd much rather not make a recommendation without understanding all the options first," he said.
Lambert, saying she knew the question would "bring the house down," asked whether housing would still be studied in the project's environmental review. Lopez said the council directed staff to study a park that complies with Measure LC, which requires voter approval for uses the measure does not name.
Two people urged the commission in written comments to include below-market housing on the site. James said 224 housing-related comments missing from an earlier survey report now appear in the published results.
Wasserman also took aim at the survey. "We have to stop doing opt-in surveys," he said. "They are pseudoscience."
The city's latest survey drew more than 4,200 responses from Feb. 18 to April 28. Support for each district's location ranged from about 57% to more than 71%. Wasserman said the results "could be boiled down to people like parks," adding, "How much did we pay a consultant to find that?"
The airport is scheduled to close permanently at midnight Dec. 31, 2028.
The city will unveil a draft master plan for the park at a community workshop Oct. 17 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Memorial Park Gym, 1401 Olympic Blvd. City commissions will review the plan again in November before it goes to the City Council in January.
Staff expect to choose a consultant for the environmental review by the end of October. That review is expected to take 12 to 18 months.