Coastal Commission said it’s willing to look at city’s version of the LCP as proposed amendments.
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
The City Council finalized its Local Costal Program draft at its meeting on Monday. The new document will be submitted to the California Coastal Commission staff as proposed amendments to the LCP the state agency drafted for the city of Malibu in 2002. Earlier this month, The Malibu Times reported that Coastal Commission staff has told the city it was willing to look at the proposed amendments.
The council had been working on drafting the document for more than a year, beginning shortly after the Coastal Commission approved an LCP it drafted for Malibu in September 2002. After the Coastal Commission approved that document, more than 2,400 Malibu residents signed a petition to put the LCP before the voters for approval because they said it was not sufficient. The state has challenged the ability for that election to occur, and litigation has ensued. The state won at the trial level, and the case is currently before the Court of Appeals.
A major difference between the city and the Coastal Commission’s documents are its designation of Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas, or ESHAs. In the commission’s document, land was either designated as being an ESHA or not. The city accused the commission of designating too much of Malibu as ESHAs, and without scientific basis. The city has taken a different approach by creating a tiered system for land designation. ESHAs are given the highest priority. After that there are Resource Protection Areas, or RPAs, followed by all other land. City Manager Katie Lichtig said the city worked with consultants to decide which areas would get which designations.
Some have been critical or skeptical of the tiered approach, including the environmental organization, Heal the Bay. City staff members have met with Heal the Bay several times to discuss its concerns with the city’s version of the LCP, and how the document addresses water protection. Shelly Luce, the organization’s director of Science and Policy, said at Monday’s meeting that although recent updates to the city’s document have been more appealing to the organization, there were still some problems.
“There are other areas where little progress has yet been made. RPA remains poorly defined and without sufficient protection …,” Luce said. ” … The LCP in our opinion does not adequately protect water quality and aquatic resources in Malibu’s coastal zone.”
Also at the meeting, the council voted for a letter to be written to the state from the city against Assembly Bill 2725. The measure would prohibit a member of the California Coastal Commission from communicating with somebody on cease and desist proceedings and any litigation involving the commission outside of a commission hearing or workshop. According to the staff report presented to the council, doing so would increase lawsuits and decrease chances of settlements by eliminating forms of open communication.
In addition, the council appropriated $110,000 from the state Quimby fund reserve for the purchase of new skate ramps at Papa Jack’s Skate Park. Parks and Recreations Director Paul Adams said the ramps that were installed in 1999 when the park opened are deteriorating and have become unsafe. The old ramps were made of wood, and the new ones will be made of steel.