Santa Monica Airport Opponents Should Be More
Open-minded

May 17, 2012

Dear Sir,

In her correspondence ("Letters: Take Back Santa Monica Airport Land," May 14)
Kelly Stevens claims 85 percent of people living near the airport want it closed. Where is this “fact” sourced? Which survey?

And could Kelly Stevens explain to the community at large precisely why all these unhappy people live near something so ‘toxic’?  Did a wily realtor somehow hide it behind screens at the time of purchase?  

This is about property value leverage and not about the presence of a highly beneficial city prize like an airport?

Steve Roberts
Santa Monica

May 14, 2012

Dear Editor,
 
I entered into discussion with Kelly Stevens a month or two ago, and I submitted to her statistical data regarding the pollution in eastern Santa Monica that is purported to come from the airport, and she would not even look at it or discuss it. Instead, she referred me to a local website she supports which portrays the airport in a negative light.

Kelly Stevens does not speak for me nor my family. My daughter, her husband and two children live close to the airport and we don't object to the airport. The minuscule amount of plane exhaust is dramatically less than the pollution from the vehicle trips that will be generated if the airport is redeveloped with multi-use development.

While it takes imagination to see it, an airport use is actually a friendly use for air quality since movements are infrequent and the only worry is having an aircraft come down in a residential neighborhood. Of course, the redeveloped area will have cars and trucks and they aren't immune to crashes either.

I have an open mind about the airport topic, and it would be helpful if those proponents for change, like Kelly Stevens, would also have an open mind and accept data that may not support their views.
 
Pat Barry
Laguna Hills