The Planning Commission on Monday, April 15, delivered its final “no” vote to the controversial request from the owners of the beachfront Malibu Beach Inn, to put their parking lot on the inland side of the highway.
The unanimous vote came after owner Simon Mani made a last ditch plea for the concept of moving the parking lot across Pacific Coast Highway so he could install a pool, deck and cocktail service area.
“It’s very important to us, it’s, it’s almost our blood,” Mani said of the swimming pool, intended to replace a beach that has washed away in the rising ocean.
“People come in for two nights and leave,” he said. “We don’t have the three-, the four-nights customer because they have nothing to do.”
The rejected plan had included putting in a traffic signal, just 500 feet from the existing Malibu Pier signal, to allow parking valets and beachgoers cross PCH. The fate of that signal, already approved by Caltrans, was not made clear at the meeting.
The Malibu Beach Inn owner can appeal the decision to the city council.