By Jorge Casuso

January 29, 2026 -- A poll released Wednesday found that 67 percent of Santa Monica voters want the Airport to stay open, a result met with skepticism by proponents of a "Great Park" and those pushing to include housing on the site.

The survey, commissioned by the pro-airport non-profit Spirit of Santa Monica, found only 25 percent of those polled favor closing the airport as soon as possible, while 8 percent were undecided.

The survey conducted by Oakland-based FM3 Research interviewed 632 local voters between September 18 and 25 by telephone and online in both English and Spanish.

“The survey found that Santa Monica voters value the airport and support keeping it open in a way that preserves options for the city,” said Ben Marcus, co-founder and president of Spirit of Santa Monica.

“As the city faces a once-in-a-generation decision about a 227-acre site, voters are signaling clearly that they do not want to rush toward irreversible decisions driven by a vocal minority to close the airport.”

John Fairbank, a partner at FM3 Research, said the survey results were "remarkably consistent across every question we asked" and "across the city, regardless of proximity to the airport."

The poll results were released two weeks after a potential ballot initiative was submitted to the City Clerk to include housing on the 192-acre site earmarked for a "Great Park" approved by voters in 2014.

It also comes amid speculation the aviation industry will submit a rival initiative to keep the airport open that would require a simple majority to override Measure LC, which was approved by 60 percent of the vote in 2014.

Proponents of building a "Great Park" at the airport said the "so-called ‘independent’ poll was commissioned by a pro-aviation group and should be given no credibility."

"We at the Great Park Coalition remain focused on planning to make the Great Park on the airport land a reality," the group said in a statement.

"All this 'noise' created by opponents of the Great Park vision is in fact recognition of how successful this vision has been in exciting residents about the future of the airport land.

"Let’s keep in mind that when all the relevant information was fairly set before the voters of Santa Monica, they voted 60-40 to close the airport and build a Great Park there,” the Coalition wrote.

The group noted that a poll sponsored by a pro-housing group last year showed a majority of local voters supported "closing the airport and building housing there."

The survey of 449 randomly selected voters, conducted last July for the hotel workers union, UNITE HERE Local 11, found that 65 percent of local voters polled "want at least some housing built on the site."

"Now you have conflicting polls," said Ralph Mechur, the spokesperson for the "Great Park and Community Housing Initiative" submitted to the City Clerk on January 13.

"The community voted (in 2014) that they certainly prefer a park to keeping the airport open," said Mechur, a member of the Santa Monicans for Renters' Rights Housing Committee.

"It's a long time since then, and the world has changed," Mechur said. "While there's still support for open space, affordable housing continues to remain a huge issue."

Frank Gruber, a member of the board of the Great Park Coalition, noted that polls usually prompt answers that favor the interest group commissioning it.

"It all depends on how the poll asks the question, because not that many people in Santa Monica are well-versed in the issues affecting the airport," Gruber said.

"As a result, the answers are affected by the information the pollster uses to frame the question."

The Lookout requested a copy of the poll from FM3 Research but did not receive it.