The Planning Commission reorganized at its Monday night meeting and appointed commissioners Richard Carrigan as chair and David Fox as vice chair. It also welcomed two new commissioners-Robert Adler and Deirdre Roney.
Also on Monday, the commission revised a story pole policy. The commission established that the story poles, which illustrate the bulk and height of a house before it is actually built, would now have to be certified by the applicant.
“They will have to either have a licensed surveyor, the city engineer or an architect certify the placement of the story poles so that if someone is building a house that is higher than 18 feet, the measurements will be accurately reflected by the poles before the house is built,” Carrigan said.
But this is only a policy, not a law. Applicants will also have to put red mesh above the poles so the bulk of a building can be clearly illustrated.
Robert Adler
Although he is new in town, Robert Adler took on the role of planning commissioner because he believes he can carry out the task.
“I see it as a very exciting challenge,” said Adler, who was appointed by Councilmember Andrew Stern.
Adler just completed the process of obtaining a permit to build a house in Malibu and feels this personal perspective has helped him gain a better understanding of the planning process.
“That experience is really important for a planning commissioner,” said Adler.
“People who live here do so for common reasons-the environment, the peace and the beauty. So everyone needs to be aware of that when they plan to build, and planning commissioners also need to be aware of that,” Adler said.
“He is very intelligent and he will analyze the projects before him with zero bias,” Stern said. “He will be objective and he will give everyone a fair hearing and do his best to come to an honest conclusion.”
Adler graduated from Washington University in Saint Louis and earned an undergraduate degree in anthropology in 1972 and later obtained a degree in dentistry, in 1976.
Although a dentist by profession, Adler now operates a head and facial pain practice in Beverly Hills part time, and spends the rest of his time inventing and designing unique gourmet cooking products for a company he recently started that spun from what was first a hobby.
Adler and his wife moved to Malibu two years ago and even though he is new to living in town, he said he is not new to the area in terms of enjoying it because he has family who already lived here before he did.
Deirdre Roney
Roney accepted the appointment to the planning commission because she wanted to help Malibu residents in a practical way as the city works to improve its land use concerns.
“It’s a good way to give back,” she said.
Barovsky, who appointed her, was confident about Roney’s ability to understand the complicated planning process.
“I think she will be mindful of applications law since the commission sits as a quasi-judicial body,” Barovsky said.
Roney’s legal background as a Harvard Law School graduate and her work as a prosecutor for four years will be an asset, she said.
“But every law is subject to some interpretation and you need to figure out what the most important rights are and do a balancing act,” said Roney, who, like Adler, believes that in every case there are human lives at stake. “So you have to take the time to evaluate everything and be fair.”
Public service is not new to Roney.
“She is a walking wealth of energy and she has been greatly involved in community affairs,” Barovsky said.
Currently, Roney, who has two children, serves on the board of the PTA council for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District, volunteers on the site governance council at Webster Elementary School and is the spokesperson for a nonprofit organization trying to cure pulmonary fibrosis.
Furthermore, despite the loss of a park bond measure last November, Roney continues to work with the city in an effort to build more public parks in the near future.
“The more places we can come together and identify, the easier it will be,” she said, hoping for a new bond measure to come to pass, “because people will have invested in a dream together.”