Planning Commission approves commercial building on PCH

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Local architect opposes the project, saying its design and scale negatively impact the mixed-use neighborhood. Also, commission approves General Plan consistency of capital improvement projects, based on one-paragraph descriptions.

By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer

The Planning Commission Monday night unanimously approved an application for the construction of a two-story, 9,709-square-foot office building to be located on Pacific Coast Highway near the Malibu Jewish Center and Synagogue. The applicant for the project, architect Mike Barsocchini, needed a variance on the project in order to build on slopes greater than the ratio allowed and in order to reduce the front yard setback by 50 percent.

Local architect Ron Goldman, who works out of an office next to the proposed site, opposed the project. Goldman, who is in Israel until May 26, wrote in a letter to the commission that he believes the design of the building will have a negative impact on a neighborhood with mixed commercial and residential buildings.

“[It] can be found in Anywhere, USA and this is unfortunate,” Goldman wrote of the project’s design.

He also opposed the scale of the project, which he wrote, with the oversized projections of balconies the “mass or visual effect of this building is equivalent to a 16,400 square foot building, or 69 percent larger than the allowable 9,700 square foot building would suggest or needs to be.”

Tony Dorn, who previously owned the property for which the project was proposed, revealed that Goldman had been working for him previously on building something on the site, but that never occurred.

Planning consultant Norm Haynie, who said he was not associated with the project, said he was troubled by Goldman taking issue with the project for what he said appeared to be nothing more than design criticism, as opposed to anything dealing with the zoning code. “It would be a sad day when Leonardo da Vinci ridiculed Michelangelo for a painting,” Haynie said. “I feel it’s the same when it comes to architects.”

Also at the meeting, the commission was presented with a list of capital improvement projects for the 2004-05 fiscal year. Provided with a one-paragraph description of each project, the commission was expected to approve whether the proposed projects were consistent with the General Plan. Several commissioners asked what the point of that was, since many of the projects do not involve the Planning Department and the commission could not analyze their consistency with the General Plan with such limited information. Deputy City Attorney Gregg Kovacevich said that state law required the commission to do this. The commission unanimously approved the General Plan consistency of the projects, with Commissioner Joel Walker saying that he believed the vote was meaningless.

Several of the projects, including the restoration of Las Flores Creek Park and the installation of a storm drain treatment facility in the Civic Center, require the city to obtain a Coastal Development Permit. For the moment, this is not possible since no coastal permits are being issued while the city and the state remain in dispute over the Local Coastal Program. Oral arguments will be heard in the Court of Appeals on May 25 in regard to the city’s lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission in which it is attempting to get the LCP drafted by the state body for Malibu to be put before residents for a vote. A judge sided with the state at the trial level.

Other projects included in the capital improvement program include the installation of granite pathways in Point Dume for children walking to school, pavement rehabilitation on certain Malibu streets, the realignment of Zumirez Drive at its intersection with Pacific Coast Highway and the reconstruction of Cross Creek Road.