Third in a series of stories covering details of the Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement.
By Jonathan Friedman/Special to The Malibu Times
There are two possible fates for the Malibu Bay Company’s Point Dume property if voters approve its agreement with the city by passing Measure M on Nov. 4. The 18.87-acre site, located off Pacific Coast Highway between Heathercliff and Portshead roads, could be donated to the city or it could be developed. If the land were developed, 5,000 square feet of it would be set aside for a community center. What happens with the Point Dume property depends on whether the city is able to buy the Civic Center area’s Chili Cook-Off site.
As mentioned in last week’s summary of the Civic Center area portion of the agreement, the city has three years to purchase the Chili Cook-Off site following successful passage of Measure M. If Malibu were unable to come up with the money within that timeframe, then the MBC would be allowed to develop the property.
In the scenario that the city were able to come up with the money to buy the Chili Cook-Off site, the MBC would be able to develop the Point Dume property under what the city’s Interim Zoning Ordinance (IZO) and General Plan allow. Although there is no proposal for what the company would build, the property is zoned for commercial development. But the MBC would also build a 5,000 square foot community center, which the city would lease for $1 per year. The city would pay for the operation and maintenance of the center, which could be done with a joint-agreement with the Point Dume Community Services District.
If the city were unable to come up with the money to purchase the Chili Cook-Off site by the three-year deadline, then the MBC would donate the entire Point Dume property to Malibu. There, the city could build ball fields and a community center. The MBC would donate $5 million to go toward construction.
In the original version of the agreement, the Point Dume property was exclusively designated to be donated to the city. Since the agreement’s environmental impact report (EIR) was never revised after the agreement was, there is no mention of the possible commercial development at the Point Dume Property in the EIR. But the city says it is not necessary to be analyzed in the EIR, since the site must be developed by the standards set forth by the IZO and the General Plan. For the most part, the elements of the agreement that are analyzed in the EIR are developments that require amendments to the IZO and General Plan and other variances, therefore requiring more environmental scrutiny. If the MBC were to decide later that it wants such things as greater development than the IZO or General Plan allow, then it would need to apply for variances at that time.
Some of the agreement’s opponents say the fact that the potential commercial development at Point Dume has never been analyzed is an example of how the EIR is flawed.