The council also gives the green light to move forward with a Whole Foods store application.
By Melonie Magruder / Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu City Council on Monday approved the purchase of one automatic license plate recognition system (ALPR).
With this system, cameras installed on patrol cars, or “mobile systems,” would scan the license plates of cars driving past. The license numbers would then be run through a database that includes information on stolen vehicles, wanted felons, stolen license plates, those with outstanding warrants, sex offenders and even people with parking violations.
The Public Safety Commission earlier this month had recommended the city purchase two ALPR systems at a cost of $32,000 each.
Councilmembers Lou La Monte and Laura Rosenthal questioned the value of the systems.
“We have a limited number of officers on our streets,” La Monte said. “I understand our larger obligations, but if our officers are pulled off patrol duty because they are booking someone for unpaid parking tickets, it’s maybe not the best use of our $64,000.”
Council member Pamela Conley Ulich thought that the possibility of catching “murderers and rapists” who might be in Malibu more than justified the expense. She noted how a chance license plate check of a vehicle parked in a Malibu neighborhood yielded the arrest of someone who was stalking a local resident.
Rosenthal’s concern was one of allocation of resources.
“I would like to see an overall public safety plan, then decide what we want to spend our money on,” Rosenthal said. “What are our priorities? We’ve discussed the need for another Sheriff’s substation, replenishing emergency supplies and mounting solar powered speed signs. We need to discuss an overall plan.”
Mayor Pro Tem John Sibert proposed purchasing one system to try out and “see how many [criminals] we catch,” before investing in another system.
Mayor Jefferson Wagner agreed, saying, “I have respect for the Safety Commission’s four-to-one vote to recommend these systems.”
Wagner also suggested that the implementation of an ALPR system could be advertised on the city’s Web site as a deterrent to criminals from passing through the city.
The council voted to approve the purchase of one ALPR camera, with the Sheriff’s Department to report back with three-month and six-month statistics of the system’s efficacy.
Council moves forward with Whole Foods application
The council members Monday night authorized staff to finalize and issue a Request for Proposal for the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report to evaluate the commercial property at 23401 Civic Center Way for building a Whole Foods Market. Steve Soboroff, former owner of Cross Creek Plaza (now known as Malibu Village], submitted an application for the project to the city in May. The project site is the current location of Papa Jack’s Skate Park at the northwest corner of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road. The application calls for a 24,000-square-foot Whole Foods building and four buildings totaling 14,000 square feet of additional retail space, with up to 4,000 square feet dedicated to restaurant and food service.
In other business, the council voted to take no action regarding a Zoning Text Amendment and a Local Coastal Program Amendment to allow roadside produce/field stands. City staff had recommended against allowing the stands due to safety concerns.
They also continued a decision to receive and file information from the State Water Resources Control Board regarding a plan to prohibit on-site wastewater disposal systems (septic systems) in the Malibu Civic Center area.
The council also approved allocating $7,000 to the Emergency Preparedness budget to restock supplies in the city’s six emergency supply containers and provide a temporary container to house emergency supplies at Las Flores Creek Park. And a library subcommittee, headed by Ulich and Rosenthal, was approved to oversee the Malibu Library Renovation Project and recommend ways to implement library programs during its temporary location outside of the Civic Center location.
Sibert and La Monte spoke of visiting a wastewater treatment facility in Fontana that utilized a bio filter system that might ultimately be appropriate for wastewater treatment in Malibu.
Stone Environmental, Inc gave a comprehensive report on its findings in a hydrology study that will impact the city’s eventual decisions on wastewater treatment. Sibert, a chemist by training, requested a private meeting with Stone Environmental to discuss details and ramifications of their study.