Landmark Compass Rose
Santa Monica Airport
Chattel, Inc.
LA 99s
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Criteria 1: It exemplifies,
symbolizes, or manifests
elements of the cultural,
social, economic, political or
architectural history of the
City.
Significant for its association
with the Ninety-Nines,
formed as a result
of the National Women’s
Air Derby of 1929,
the first sanctioned
air race for
women.
What makes the
Compass Rose
significant?
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
August 18, 1929
First Women’s Transcontinental Air Derby
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Santa Monica Image Archives
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Discrimination against women pilots
Petticoat pilots Sweethearts of the air
Ladybirds Flying flappers
Saint Louis University Libraries
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal Point #1
Measure LC and the
Landmarks Commission
Landmarks
Commission
Municipal Code Section 9.56.060
Designates Structures of Merit,
Landmarks and Landmark
Parcels
Measure LC
City Charter Section 640
City Council regulates use, leases
and permanently close the airport
Measure LC does not affect or alter the
responsibility of the Landmarks
Commission to designate Structures of
Merit and Landmarks
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal Point #2
Designation of a
Landmark should be
more fully considered
• Landmarks Commission followed criterion delineated
in § 9.56.100 when it designated the Compass Rose
under Criterion 1.
• Appellant asks Council to apply additional requirements to the consideration of a Landmark simply because it is located on airport property.
Chattel, Inc.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Santa Monica Airport Rotating
Beacon Tower
Built: circa 1928
Moved to Santa Monica Airport from Vultee
Aircraft Airfield, Downey: 1952
Designated: 1988
“Functioning representation of the earliest
navigational tools used to guide pilots through
night flights.”
“…because of its age and its longtime location at
the Santa Monica Airport, is a symbol of the vital
role which aviation played in the history of City.”
Chattel, Inc.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal Point #3
The Landmark Compass
Rose has 12 points not 16
What is a Compass
Rose?
Air marker
Compass Calibration
Logo/Symbol
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Swinging a compass rose
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal point #4 Historic Location
1989 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
June 15-June 16, 1985
LA 99s Painting
the Landmark Compass Rose
Photos courtesy Carolyn Horton
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
1985 (historic and current location)
Photo courtesy Carolyn Horton
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Relocated Santa Monica Landmarks
Shotgun House (designated 1999)
Santa Monica Conservancy
1124 7th St. (designated 2018)
Chattel, Inc.
Rotating Beacon Tower
(designated 1988)
Chattel, Inc.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal Point #5 Landmark Compass Rose would be “questionable to maintain and protect” Chattel, Inc.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
August 18, 1929
August 18, 2019
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
National Women’s Air Derby of 1929 Video
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 9-A
Appeal of Landmarks
Commission Designation of
Compass Rose
City Council
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Deny Appeal 19ENT-0353of the Landmarks Commission’s decision to designate the Compass Rose, a feature at the Santa Monica Airport, 3223 Donald Douglas Loop as a City Landmark;and
Approve Designation Application 19ENT-0213 to designate Compass Rose as a City Landmark.
Alternatively
If the City Council approves the appeal and denies the designation application to designate the property as a City Landmark or Structureof Merit, as described in Alternative Actions, Articulate revised findings and approve the appeal.
Recommended Action
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Overview
• Limited Question on Appeal:
• “Does the painted Compass Rose located north of and adjacent to Runway 3 at the Santa Monica Airport meet one or more of the criteria for the designation as a City Landmark?”
• Appellant is in favor of the Landmark designation and has requested to continue to move forward with the appeal.
• This appeal does not impact the current operations of the Santa Monica Airport or its future closure.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Landmark Designation Criteria: SMMC § 9.56.100(A)
Landmark Designation Criteria:
1. It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.
2. It has aesthetic or artistic interest or value, or other noteworthy interest or value.
3. It is identified with historic personages or with important events in local, state or national history.
4. It embodies distinguishing architectural characteristics valuable to a study of a period, style, method of construction, or the use of indigenous materials or craftsmanship, or is a unique or rare example of an architectural design, detail or historical type valuable to such a study.
5. It is a significant or representative example of the work or product of a notable builder, designer or architect.
6. It has a unique location, a singular physical characteristic, or is an established and familiar visual feature of a neighborhood, community or the City.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Santa Monica Airport Compass Rose I Description
• Assumed to be painted by 1929
Painted on the tarmac adjacent to
runways 21 and 22 from 1947-1987
Relocated in 1989 to current location
Repainted in 2010 by the LA 99s
Santa Monica Airport- Compass Rose view (99s Compass Rose), 2018 The Compass Rose is a diagram of a circular magnetic compass • painted on the ground adjacent to the airport runway. • used as an early aviation navigational tool
• a form of air marking common to airports
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Compass Rose Landmark Nomination
Historic Context:
Santa Monica Airport
227 Acres owned and operated by the City
Previously used as barley fields from 1916
Beginning in 1917 WW1 landed there
Purchased by the City in April 1926
1929 Douglas Aircraft Company
Ostashay and Associates Consulting (OAC)
Complete Assessment of Compass Rose based
on Landmark Criteria
Santa Monica Airport and surrounding neighborhoods
Applicant | Robert Chattel, Chattel Inc. Appellant/ Ben Wang Landmarks Commission Designated the Compass Rose on September 09, 2019 Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 National Park Service Guidelines
National Park Service Guidelines:
The National Park Service (NPS) publishes bulletins and guidelines help to provide understanding and clarity in the application of:
designation criteria,
the significance criteria for evaluation,
development of appropriate historic contexts, and
assessing historical integrity to those properties under consideration for potential landmark eligibility.
The use of these publications is standard professional industry practice and helps to disseminate the essential information gathered to make a sound and justifiable evaluation of historical significance.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Compass Rose I STOA I Landmark Designation
Criterion 1 It exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political or architectural history of the City.
Painted Compass Rose/ Feature
Santa Monica Airport Compass Rose symbolizes the important history of women’s aviation in Santa Monica
Distinctive Compass Rose designed in 1939 by Wilma Fritschey Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Compass Rose I STOA I Landmark Designation
Character Defining Features
Painted Compass Rose/ Feature
Location near or adjacent to the airfield, runway, taxiway, or other airport associated feature;
Large size and distinct shape as a 12-point Compass Rose; Material (FAA approved reflective paint) and color pattern and hue (blue and white);
Block font type of “99” logo and arrangement as two interlocking number “9”s of varying size and shape.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Appeal Statement
1. Meets only one of the six Landmarks criteria;
2. Is a painted feature that has changed location over time, is non original, and has been repainted; and
3. Is inconsistent in design with the Ninety-Nines trademarked 16-point symbol.
Additionally, the appeal contends a designation may not be appropriate of the Compass Rose given the City’s obligations under the Consent Decree and the City Charter as they relate to the operation of the Airport.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Appeal Analysis
• There is no basis in the Consent Decree or in its incorporated grant assurances that limit the City’s ability to designate the Compass Rose as a landmark since such designation does not affect the safe or efficient operation of the Airport as an aviation facility. • Neither the Consent Decree nor Charter Section 640 is relevant to the City’s landmarks process as it relates to the Compass Rose. • In its deliberation of this Appeal, the City Council is limited to the jurisdiction of the Landmarks Commission under the Landmarks and Historic District Ordinance, Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 9.56.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Appeal Analysis
1. Appellant states the Compass Rose meets only one of the Landmarks Ordinance Criteria and “failed to meet the other 5 criteria” The Landmarks Ordinance states that “the Landmarks Commission may approve the landmark designation of a structure, improvement, natural feature, or an object if it finds that it meets one or more of the (Landmarks Ordinance) criteria. (SMMC § 9.56.100(A)).
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Appeal Analysis
2. Appellant states that the Compass Rose is a painted feature that has changed locations over time is non-original and has been repainted. • Landmarks Commission recognized that
• the Compass Rose is a painted feature that has been relocated and repainted over time,
• The Commission found that the Compass Rose symbolizes the important aviation history of women in Santa Monica.
• As a painted feature, it requires repainting
• As part of the Statement of Official Action, the Compass Rose may be relocated, as it had been moved since its original location.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Appeal Analysis
3. The Appellant states that the Compass Rose is a 12-pointed symbol and as such is inconsistent in design with the Ninety-Nines trademarked 16- point symbol.
• The trademark states that, “the mark is comprised of a compass with the number “99” disposed in the center thereof, and is white and blue.” • The symbol was painted by members of the Ninety-Nines, and the organization supported the designation.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Landmark Eligibility
Criterion 1, The property exemplifies, symbolizes, or manifests elements of the cultural, social, economic, political, or architectural history or development of Santa Monica.
The Compass Rose is a symbol of Women’s Aviation at the Santa Monica Airport The first National Women’s Air Derby of 1929, a turning point in Women’s Aviation The event led to the formation of the Ninety-Nines in November 1929, a social and professional organization to encourage and support women in aviation There are references of a Compass Rose utilized in the Santa Monica Airport prior to the standardization of air marking and the Ninety-Nine’s distinctive Compass Rose in 1939.
The Compass Rose is a symbolic feature and not in a historic location at the airport.
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Parcel Designation
The Ordinance grants the City Council on appeal the power to designate a Landmark Parcel.
The Compass Rose is described as a circular-shaped, twelve-point Compass Rose with a diameter of approximately 50 feet and a circumference of approximately 160 feet.
A three-foot perimeter around the Compass Rose was defined as a Landmark Parcel by the Landmarks Commission in order to preserve, maintain, protect and safeguard the Compass Rose. As noted in the Landmarks Commission designation, the Compass Rose can be relocated.
Staff recommends the City Council adopt such a Landmark Parcel Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Appeal of Landmarks Commission Designation Compass Rose | City Council | 11.11.2024 Deny Appeal 19ENT-0353of the Landmarks Commission’s decision to designate the Compass Rose, a feature at the Santa Monica Airport, 3223 Donald Douglas Loop as a City Landmark;and
Approve Designation Application 19ENT-0213 to designate Compass Rose as a City Landmark and include a Landmark Parcel.
Alternatively
If the City Council approves the appeal and denies the designation application to designate the property as a City Landmark or Structureof Merit, as described in Alternative Actions, Articulate revised findings and approve the appeal.
Recommended Action
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024
Item 12-A
November 11, 2024