The council will also vote on an application by developer Brian Sweeney to build an access road to his unincorporated county property above Malibu.
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
Bonds and taxes will be on the agenda for Monday’s City Council meeting. Representatives from the Santa Monica College District will make a presentation to the council regarding a $175 million-bond measure that could be placed on the November ballot. Also, the council will discuss the possibility of placing a sales tax measure on the ballot either this year or in April 2006. In addition, the application by developer Brian Sweeney for construction of a 20-foot-wide, 1,669-foot-long private road that would connect the end of Sweetwater Mesa Road to his property above Sweetwater Mesa will go before the council after it decided to hold off on voting at the June 14 meeting.
If approved by district voters in November, the $175 million bond would be used to pay for capital projects in the Santa Monica College District. Many of these projects could be done through joint agreements between the college district and the cities of Santa Monica and Malibu, and the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, including the possibility of purchase of land for the construction of a college facility in the Malibu Civic Center area. Mayor Sharon Barovsky told the SMC Board of Trustees at its meeting earlier this month that she believes Malibu voters would support a concept in which the city and the college purchased the Civic Center’s Chili Cook-Off site to create a mostly undeveloped property with an instructional facility.
But first the bond measure must be approved by the SMC Board prior to Aug. 5. The trustees are expected to vote on the item at their meeting during the first week of July. The measure would require approval by 55 percent of district voters, who would not be voting on any actual projects, but rather just the bond itself.
According to the college district, there are about 500 Malibu residents taking courses through SMC and there are emeritus classes offered at five locations in the city.
Talking taxes
On Monday, the council will discuss options for putting what is called a transaction and use tax on either this November’s ballot or the April 2006 ballot. This type of tax is essentially a sales tax, and could be as high as 0.5 percent.
If a measure were placed on the ballot this year, it would be for a special tax, which means the money that is generated must be used for a specified purpose. If the measure were put on the April 2006 ballot, it would be for a general tax, which means the money that is generated could be used for any general municipal purpose. By state law, a general tax measure can only be voted on in an election when City Council seats are being contested. April 2006 is the next scheduled council election.
There is no city sales tax in Malibu, but there is an 8.25 percent county rate. The combined county and city rate can be as high as 9.25 percent. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is attempting to get a county 0.5 percent tax increase placed on the November ballot, although it is struggling to get enough signatures for this to happen. If it were placed on the ballot and approved, this would leave Malibu with the ability to raise the sales tax by a maximum of 0.5 percent.
Any city tax proposal would require a two-thirds approval by the City Council prior to going before Malibu voters. The council will not be voting on a tax at Monday’s meeting, but rather will be reviewing what the possibilities are.
Council takes on Sweeney project again
Also, the council will be presented with the Sweeney private-road application in a second consecutive meeting. On June 14, prior to it being announced at the meeting, the council continued the item after saying it was unaware that Sweeney planned to build five homes on the unincorporated county property above Sweetwater Mesa. The private road would be connected to the property. Several speakers, including Sweeney representatives and opponents, said Sweeney had already received tentative county approval for these homes. Don Schmitz, Sweeney’s planning consultant, dismissed the councilmembers’ claims that they did not know of his client’s intentions, saying it had been known for years. A 2001 city document obtained by The Malibu Times states the purpose of the road would be to “service five future single-family residences” on Sweeney’s property.
In 2002, the council denied Sweeney a permit for the road, which required variances to obtain more grading, higher retaining walls and construction on slopes greater than the municipal code allows. Nearby residents had argued the private road could eventually connect to Piuma Road, located north of the property at the top of the mountain, thereby creating a thoroughfare through the private streets in the area down to Pacific Coast Highway.
Sweeney later sued the city, and earlier this year, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Collins ordered the council to either approve his application for the variances or conduct further proceedings and render a new decision. The city and Sweeney were ordered to appear in court on July 19 to tell the judge what has occurred since her decision.