Malibu City Council met on Tuesday, Nov. 12, due to the Veterans Day holiday taking place on Monday, Nov. 11.
The following actions were taken at last week’s council meeting:
Adopted an urgency ordinance to halt evictions prior to statewide renter’s rights bill
“This was something that was brought on with urgency because if we don’t push it through now, it basically removes the ability for us to do anything about this before the end of the year,” Assistant City Attorney Trevor Rusin described at the meeting, adding that once someone is evicted, “there’s nothing the city’s able to do about it.”
The urgency of the measure comes from the swiftly approaching Jan. 1, 2020, adoption of Assembly Bill 1482, “Tenant Protections Act of 2019,” which is designed to “prohibit an owner of residential real property from, over the course of any 12-month period, increasing the gross rental rate for a dwelling or unit more than 5 percent plus the percentage change in the cost of living, or 10 percent, whichever is lower, of the lowest gross rental rate charged for the immediately preceding 12 months, subject to specified conditions,” according to a staff report prepared for the meeting.
Many Malibu renters have complained of receiving eviction notices prior to the enactment of the act.
“The City of Malibu is experiencing a housing affordability crisis. A majority of the city’s renters are rent burdened, paying an average of 39 percent of their income on rent,” according to city staff. “Rapidly escalating real estate values provide an incentive to landlords to evict long-term, lower-income tenants, without cause, to raise rents and attract wealthier tenants, before AB 1482 becomes effective. Tenants have already reported experiencing a surge of no-fault eviction notices and threats of eviction. Therefore, it is imperative that the city implement temporary strategies to keep people housed.”
The prohibition will apply to multiunit buildings built prior to Jan. 1, 2005, only.
The ordinance was passed with unanimous, 5-0, council approval.
Moved forward on temporary and permanent skate park plans
The city is currently collecting plans for a temporary skate park to go into Malibu Bluffs Park, with initial survey results for the design of the park released by Community Services Director Jesse Bobbett Tuesday.
“I want to thank Jesse, and the staff, and all the community input for staying on this, for not just being interested, but for showing up and advocating and for making it happen—this is how we make the sausage, guys,” Mayor Karen Farrer said.
According to the survey, which yielded 219 responses (166 of them in the Malibu/Topanga area), 79 percent of respondents favored a wood/concrete and skatelite design, versus 21 percent that favored a steel frame. About two-thirds, 64 percent of respondents, preferred a mini-bowl as the primary skate feature, while 36 percent favored a mini-ramp.
A more complete design of the temporary park will be selected as early as mid-January when the RFP process is completed. The park is projected to open as early as May 2020.
Approved a letter be sent requesting public trails, parks and open space be closed during red flag conditions
Initially proposed by Mayor Pro Tem Mikke Pierson, council on Tuesday asked city staff to write a letter to the National Park Service, California Department of Parks and Recreation and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority to request “parks, trailheads and surrounding open space areas in Malibu be closed during red flag conditions,” according to information from city staff.
Council approved the letter unanimously, 5-0.