In response to the May 20 letter from Anne Hoffman (“Coastal threat continues”), the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning is on record as consistently opposing the Coastal Commission’s designation of large areas in the City of Malibu as Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHAs) in the Malibu Local Coastal Program. Also, the County consistently expresses its opposition to the Coastal Commission’s practice of identifying unincorporated areas as ESHAs in the Commission’s coastal development permit procedure. Ms. Hoffman’s allegations of the County being pressured by the Coastal Commission are unwarranted and without merit.
The Significant Ecological Area (SEA) concept has been part of the County-wide General Plan since 1980 and is being revised as part of the County’s current General Plan update program. Unlike ESHAs, SEAs are intended not to preclude development, but to allow limited controlled development that protects the biotic resources. A new multi-tier review process is proposed based on project magnitude and would continue to exempt single-family homes from SEA review. The SEA program will help guide land-intensive development, such as subdivisions, away from streams, woodlands, and other biologically important resources, thereby creating a balance between resource conservation and development.
The proposed Grading and Significant Ridgeline ordinance would apply only to the Santa Monica Mountains unincorporated area north of the Coastal Zone. It will implement the goals of the County’s adopted Santa Monica Mountains North Area Plan (NAP) to minimize the amount of grading and to protect ridgelines. In the proposed ordinance, the conditional use permit (CUP) requirement only applies to grading projects exceeding 5,000 cubic yards or 15,000 square feet of graded surface; this would exempt many individual single-family residential projects. Larger projects will receive a more thorough review through the CUP process to ensure that resources are protected and the policies of the NAP are met. The significant ridgeline portion of the ordinance applies to County-identified significant ridgelines within the North Area. The proposed 50-foot setback does not require donating a “view easement”, but is a development standard, similar to a height limit.
James E. Hartl
Planning Director
Los Angeles County