The Point Dume Community Services District will manage only theater-related activities at Malibu Stage Co.’s theater. Meanwhile, space for other community-related activities is still needed.
By Lauren Gustus/Special to The Malibu Times
It seems that all parties affected by the management agreement between the Malibu Stage Co. (MSC) and the Point Dume Community Services District (PDCSD) agree on one thing: The theater located at 29243 Pacific Coast Highway is a gem.
However, the consensus may end there. A management agreement that was proposed more than a year ago and seemed to benefit both the MSC and the community center has proven to be more problematic than anticipated.
Last year, Beverly Hammond, president of the community center board, proposed that the center take over managerial duties at the 99-seat theater and former church, where the MSC is currently ensconced, when the company was not using the theater. The center planned to use the theater for some of its community activities.
However, at that time residents living on Bonsall Drive near the theater expressed concerns over noise, traffic flow and geological issues as a result of the extra activities.
Bonsall resident Russ Drago has lived in the canyon for more than 30 years.
“It’s a beautiful place,” said Drago. “And we’re not against theater. We love theater, but we also want to be respectful of the neighborhood ambience.”
The PDCSD had been using space at Point Dume Elementary School for most of its activities until it was upended after regular classes resumed at the site.
Also adding to its problems were financial losses the center suffered, because it was no longer receiving revenue from the rooms it rented for various classes at the elementary school. Although the center still maintains an office at the school and holds some limited events at the site, its main source of income was eliminated.
The solution seemed to be a perfect match; the PDCSD would manage the theater anytime the theater was not being used by the MSC and rent out the space, which would bring in extra income.
“I came up with this idea as an interim solution because, for the time, we are without space and income,” said Hammond. “With the downsizing of the community center, there are many users with no space.”
Nidra Winger, executive director of the Point Dume center, pointed out the opposite problem with the theater: “At the MSC, there is space with not as many users.”
The agreement, which was finalized in November, stipulates the MSC holds the master lease on the theater. The MSC will put on four plays over the course of the year, each with a four-week run and two to three week rehearsal period.
Hammond summed up the agreement by saying, “We will manage the facility. We will keep track of who is using the space [and] when.”
Initially, the PDCSD intended to offer the vacant space to other groups such as traffic schoolteachers and yoga instructors. But residents protested the plan, reasoning that traffic and noise would greatly increase, and the land was not zoned originally for a large number of people. They also expressed concerns about disruption of an already weak septic system.
The neighbors compiled a petition that stated they did not want the PDCSD to enter into the agreement, which, according to Drago, was signed by 70 percent of the group.
The situation was diffused when the PDCSD was awarded a conditional use permit (CUP), which mandated the only offerings that could take place on the site are theatre-related classes and activities.
However, residents still questioned why the PDCSD would want to enter into an agreement with the MSC when the theater is not located in Point Dume.
“Our neighborhood doesn’t get to vote for the five board members of the PDCSD,” said Drago, because the PDCSD does not extend to the Bonsall Drive area of Malibu.
The PDCSD responded that as long as the community center’s office is within their district, then it is acceptable to have events outside of its boundaries.
“The concerns that the neighbors have expressed are legitimate. But this is a conditional use permit, so if problems arise they can complain to the City Council,” Hammond said. “They can bring the concerns to us and they can be rectified.”
Geoffrey Ortiz, chairman of the Malibu Stage Co. board, has been in communication with the residents of Bonsall Drive about the matter.
“Their primary concern is that it is going to become a community center, which it isn’t,” said Ortiz.
“I don’t foresee that there are going to be major problems,” said Hammond of the agreement. “We ran the community center in the middle of a residential area for 17 years. We know how to handle these things and always try to be sensitive.”
Meanwhile, the PDCSD continues to look for a new location. One option for a permanent home is a part of a larger proposal that the Malibu Bay Company has offered to the City of Malibu, which would involve gifting to the city a parcel of property on a vacant lot located at the corner of Heathercliff and Pacific Coast Highway.