Fortunately, we as citizens get to vote on huge development projects. Unfortunately, there is a lot of deception on the “yes” side of the Whole Foods Measure W.
Because the “yes” traffic study said traffic is less than 10 years ago, I started looking at the rest of what they were claiming. This study is an obvious lie that shows how statistical analyses can be manipulated.
Rush hour used to be 30 minutes in the morning and PCH was basically empty during the day except on summer weekends. At minimum, adding a big shopping center means another 100-200 workers driving on PCH seven days a week, plus many more delivery trucks.
The promised park is so tiny it’s a joke.
Even more deceptive, this development is being sold as Whole Foods, but there is no guarantee that Whole Foods will ever lease the space. Thirteen thousand people live in Malibu. Add another 13,000 in the county nearby. This is about 1/10 of what is needed to support a Whole Foods market.
Once a big shopping center is built, it is there forever. Can more development help anyone but developers and commercial interests? There are huge amounts of money involved. The developer is clearly paying for all the expensive publicity and offering cash to certain groups in exchange for support. Has converting the old lumberyard to high-priced shops helped anyone living in Malibu?
Whole Foods is being used as a cover up for a large development that won’t serve our community and will pave over more of Malibu’s rural landscape.
Scott Dittrich