The Malibu City Council Monday night unanimously voted in favor of delaying a decision on an appeal of a Planning Commission-issued permit to build a private road through Serra Retreat to Sweetwater Mesa Road. The council will wait to make a decision on the permit until after a California Coastal Commission hearing on the project, which will analyze the potential environmental impacts to the area from the road and the building of homes associated with the road.
The proposed 1,669-foot private road, which has been through a legal back and forth since 1999, will run through Serra Retreat and provide access to five undeveloped parcels above Sweetwater Mesa Road that are considered unincorporated Los Angeles County land and not part of the City of Malibu. David Evans, also known as The Edge of the rock band U2, owns one of these parcels.
In September of 2008, the Planning Commission approved in a 2-1 vote the issuance of the coastal development permit to build the access road. The Serra Canyon Homeowners Association, under the counsel of Gaines & Stacey LLP, appealed the decision several days later, due to their environmental concerns about the project.
Attorney Fred Gaines, representing the Serra homeowners, said the construction of the five homes was not considered by the earlier environmental review of the project and mandated another California Environmental Quality Act review, as construction of the homes would result in heavy traffic on the road and more substantial grading. Stanley Lamport, an attorney representing the landowners of the undeveloped parcels, said the city had no jurisdiction over the homes, nor could they consider environmental ramifications that came with building them, due to their location in Los Angeles County.
Councilmembers deliberated in what Councilmember Andy Stern called a “chicken and egg” scenario over what authority they could have given that the homes are not in their jurisdiction, and looked to City Attorney Christi Hogin for advice. The lack of a clear-cut protocol spurred the council to hold off until the Coastal Commission hearing analyzed the environmental impacts of building the homes.
“If you think you are looking at the same situation twice, you essentially are,” Hogin said of the item coming before the council again. “You should consider if some significant new impact or sudden change in circumstances would make everything different.”
“The road is necessary to access this property no matter whether [the homeowners] get the approval or not for the five homes,” Hogin said. “Applying to the common sense, CEQA would be asking us to look at the impacts we can regulate and what we can regulate is traffic and construction impacts on the road.”
Hogin added that these impacts had already been examined by earlier reviews and she seconded city staff’s recommendation for the City Council to approve the permit.
Area homeowners have been against construction of the road since its initial proposal in 1999, due to concerns with excessive grading and increased traffic on the private roads in Serra Retreat. In 2004, a local coastal program dispute and a moratorium on coastal development permits made it impossible for the former property owner to obtain the necessary permits to start construction, even though the city had approved a city permit for the road.
In issuing the city permit in 2004, the city also put 33 restrictions on the proposed road, including limits on its extent and the number of homes that could be built on top of the land parcel, but many residents felt this is not enough.
Several area homeowners showed up to Monday night’s meeting and spoke out against the project. Anne Payne, a resident of Cross Creek Lane, implored the city to take the residents of Sweetwater Mesa and Serra Retreat to heart and not approve the permit.
The topic will be back on the council agenda following the Coastal Commission hearing.
Also on Monday night, residents again voiced concerns over the septic smell situation at Point Dume Village. Complaints started roughly eight months ago after the new Pavilions opened in the plaza. A company contracted by the city has been analyzing a variety of problems with a septic system they have pushed the city to replace.
One resident, Cindy Emminger, addressed the council about a port-a-potty system near her residence that has been stinking.
“Do we have an ordinance that says you can plop a port-a-potty down anywhere in the city?” Councilmember Barovsky asked.
Vic Peterson, Malibu Environmental and Community Development director, speaking on behalf of Craig George, head of the Environmental and Building Safety Division and who has been managing the problem on the city front and addressing area residents, said he had looked into all Los Angeles County Health Department regulations, and was dismayed that no resolution had been reached. He said from now on complaints would be turned over to the Regional Water Quality Control Board to handle.