Guest Column / Rick Wallace
Five years ago in Malibu: A deal was reached for the city to buy Bluffs Park and save the ball fields from elimination in a purchase from the state that also would provide funds for the state to then buy the 600-acre SOKA property at Mulholland and Las Virgenes. A group called the Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy pledged to raise $15 million to buy the former Chili Cook-Off site. However, it demanded that no wastewater facility be placed at the site. When the city refused to guarantee no wastewater on the site, the group, led by president Steve Uhring, went back on its pledge.
* Ten years ago in Malibu: An overflow meeting of citizens protested the overzealous new code enforcement department at the city. The Coastal Commission labeled the city’s local coastal plan proposal DOA. A hyperactive and historical campaign was underway wherein Joan House, Jeff Jennings and newcomer Ken Kearsley defeated Walt Keller and Carolyn Van Horn, changing the local political base of power in Malibu’s last election of 10,000-plus total votes.
* Fifteen years ago in Malibu: Horrific storms closed down the Malibu Pier and nearly collapsed the Malibu Lagoon Bridge. Emergency work on the bridge repaired and widened it within two months. An announced expansion of events at the new Streisand Center brought howls of protests from Ramirez Canyon neighbors. Malibu’s attempts to adopt a general plan were halted when the state Office of Planning and Research terminated a time extension and declared Malibu was moving too slowly.
* If you have not been to Bluffs Park lately, this is a great time of year to watch the sun set and check out the beautiful new mural on the backside of the Michael Landon Building.
* Maybe it’s just me, but it seems the Malibu High School drop-off and pick-up flow system is very smooth. Traffic flows safely and quickly, the crosswalk system works well; you could not ask for a better system.
* If you are new to Malibu, let me explain how laws work around here. A myriad of outside, unelected, unaccountable bureaucratic agencies focus on Malibu to propose their outlandish laws and regulations for anything that has to do with your property and liberty. Then they declare the laws into effect with the city unable or unwilling to offer resistance. Then, when simple requests are made, such as putting up a horse corral or playing night football games, the agencies cite the ridiculous laws and say no to anything reasonable Malibuites wish within their borders. Then the bureaucrats go to a complicit media to cry about how rich, rigid and unreasonable we are. That’s how it works.
* Keep the hills! Keep the little hills in the new park. No need to add a zoo or skating rink or anything else. But keep the hills.
* Twenty years ago in Malibu: Months of legal wrangling was ended when a judge ruled Malibu was finally allowed to schedule an election for cityhood, set for June 5, with more than 30 candidates running for city council. Neighbors were victorious in defeating a proposed mobile phone tower installation at the Malibu Park Junior High site by PacTel.
* Twenty-five years ago in Malibu: Justice Sandra Day O’Connor paid her first visit to Pepperdine University. Fires within one month of each other closed down the Jetty restaurant for good, and temporarily closed the Colony Coffee Shop and Showboat Restaurant that were located in the office building adjacent to KFC. Orange emergency access decals for car windows were mailed and provided to Malibu residents, courtesy of the Malibu Chamber of Commerce, to allow for more orderly access during road closures.
* My opinion of the best five Malibu city council members of all time: John Harlow, Jeff Jennings, Ken Kearsley, Andy Stern and Sharon Barovsky. All five left their egos at the door, used reason and common sense, stood up to the radical fringe and sought the best for Malibu’s long-term future. The years that Malibu had all four of them active at once were the golden years for local government. (I have a list of the five worst also, but this is not a good time to publicize it.)
* I have written about the Super Walk before, but the fashionable Malibu Lumber Yard opening adds another segment to the walk-and an excuse to repeat the idea. This is as pleasant a two-hour stroll as you can find in Malibu…..
…..Park at Cross Creek and begin with a leisurely visit to the four shopping plazas, including the Malibu Lumber Yard. Then cross PCH, mosey through the Malibu Lagoon Park out onto Surfrider Beach, all the way to the Malibu Pier. Go up onto the pier to its end and back, then take the sidewalk to the Adamson House grounds, Malibu’s most beautiful and secret gem. Finish with a return via the bridge along PCH over the creek.
Did you know that the Terra Restaurant, Malibu Inn and BeauRivage were all originally the sites of gas stations?
* Have you lived in Malibu for more than five years and still not visited the Lake Shrine Self-Realization Retreat on Sunset Boulevard, one half mile up from PCH? Shame on you. Amazing place! It has been open to the public since 1950. See the Gandhi World Peace Memorial, the lake, Windmill Chapel, the sunken gardens and more. You will feel you are on the grounds of the most serene place on any continent on earth.
* Remember when the site of the Malibu Beach Inn was the Polynesian-style Tonga Lei restaurant?
* Thirty years ago in Malibu: District 29 water supplier was considering an assessment and upgrade of its system in Malibu. Torrential mid-February storms brought 10 inches of rain to Malibu within seven days and numerous road closures. Forty-five acres next to Malibu Park Junior High, originally purchased in 1968 for a future high school site, was under consideration for a large community park.
* Chicken Delight was the first fast food joint in Malibu, opening in the mid-sixties where The Fish Grille is now located across from the pier, but Jack in the Box was really the first large national chain, opening at its current location 40 years ago.
* Sixty years ago in Malibu: Roy Crummer began groundbreaking for a building supply and lumberyard-guess where? At the current site of the new Malibu Lumber Yard plaza. Also, bids were opened to build and operate concession stands at the new Zuma Beach.