It is unfortunate that the City of Malibu could not complete its own LUP. However, the plan before us is the hand we have been dealt. Our concern at this point should be not who writes the plan, but, the plan that is adopted. Once the LUP is adopted, it will be the City of Malibu that administers the plan, not (as many will try to have you believe) the Coastal Commission.
For most of us who do not want to see Malibu ruined by overdevelopment and our open spaces littered with structures and subdivisions, it is now important to get a plan in place that both protects Malibu’s threatened natural resources and beauty and allows reasonable use of one’s property.
In reviewing the City of Malibu’s General Plan, already in effect for many years, and the Coastal Commission’s LUP, I found that they are very similar with respect to protection of natural resources. For example, the General Plan has a 10-foot setback from environmentally sensitive habitat areas (ESHA). In the General Plan, coastal sage scrub and chaparral fit the ESHA designation and are considered as such. In most instances the draft LUP adopts the land use designations of the General Plan.
Both plans cover only new development and existing homes are grandfathered in. If your home and ancillary structures are destroyed by natural disaster, not only will you be allowed to rebuild but you can increase the size of your home by ten percent. Please do not be swayed by inaccurate claims of land speculators, the construction and real estate industries, and the fear mongers who benefit from intense land development at the expense of and destruction of our quality of life.
Patt Healy
Malibu Coalition for Slow Growth