Palm tree fracas addressed; parent volunteer group that planted trees offers to remove but says money and volunteers needed to do so.
By Nora Fleming / Special to The Malibu Times
Residents crowded into Malibu High School’s library Monday night to hear solutions to the traffic congestion and pedestrian danger on Morning View Drive during drop-off and pickup times at the school. The meeting was one in a series of meetings sponsored by the school to discuss the campus improvements project at Malibu High and Middle Schools to be funded by Measure BB money. The issue over the plantings of 75 palm trees, also discussed Monday, may also be resolved.
Gary Carlin, senior group manager for PBS&J, an infrastructure engineering company contracted by the school, presented findings on ways to ease the traffic stress, and said a combination of solutions might be the best answer.
“We don’t have one silver bullet [to answer the traffic problem],” Carlin said. “We have several lead ones.”
The traffic construction project is part of the general campus improvements project supported through a portion of Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District bond money from Measure BB, passed in 2006. Approximately $30, 375, 000 will go toward renovating old classrooms and building new ones, creating a two-story library and improving athletic fields, in addition to mitigating the traffic problem.
Traffic has been a longstanding issue at the school, made particularly chaotic by pick-ups and drop-offs at Malibu Middle and High School, Juan Cabrillo Elementary, the Boys and Girls Club of Malibu, and sports games that often conflict with residents who live next to the school trying to get to and from their homes.
Possible solutions proposed by PBS&J at the meeting include: a new traffic signal at Guernsey Avenue; elimination of parking on Morning View Drive; putting a roundabout at Via Cabrillo; create a new drop-off and pickup lane; build an additional student parking lot; turning Morning View Drive into a one-way road; utilizing Zuma Beach as remote parking and shuttling students to the school; adding a northbound right-turn lane from Merritt Drive to the school entrance; and constructing an alternative loop road.
Of these, Carlin said, the northbound turn lane, new parking lot, roundabout, extension of drop-off zones and a light at Guernsey are the most viable alternatives.
Residents encouraged the committee to prioritize finding a way to get fire and rescue workers to the school in the event of an emergency, in addition to alleviating congestion.
Elaine Rene-Weissman, a resident who also serves on the BB oversight committee, said she was disappointed none of the solutions had real alternatives to the source of the problem: the number of cars on the road, particularly given the district’s commitment to sustainability and the city’s goal of green-friendly construction projects.
“The effort to have fewer cars needs to be a decision of the community to maintain its rural character and not have an extra lane of asphalt,” Rene-Weissman said. “Have you looked at what percent decrease in the number of cars on the road would make it so you didn’t have to do anything at all [construction wise]?”
Carlin said that the answer of more busing would not be possible, due to the maxed out school district and a lack of funds on the city’s behalf. Resident Cindy Vandor suggested students walk or bike, which Carlin also said was impossible for most students who lived too far east from the city to do so.
Granville Bowman, special projects manager for the City of Malibu, said all options should be kept open, as it would be a long-term project and long-term solution.
The next steps in the process would be selecting the most viable option or options, evaluating available funding and continuing outreach discussions regarding operation and enforcement. Representatives from PBS&J said an official EIR would most likely be ready in early spring.
Palm tree fracas being addressed
At last week’s Measure BB community meeting, a group of irate residents complained about the planting of 75 queen palm trees during the Thanksgiving weekend. They believe the trees will grow to block their views and potentially cause a fire. Some residents said they thought the school had secretly planted the trees during the holiday weekend to avoid conflict with residents.
Members of a voluntary parent landscaping committee addressed the audience Monday, claiming responsibility for the trees and to redirect complaints toward them. The group is now attempting to find a solution to the problem and said they had no idea the trees would impact views at the time of planting.
Queen palms were chosen because they made a list of safe trees in areas prone to fire, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, said Valerie Grant, a parent volunteer on the committee.
The 75 trees cost roughly $7,000 and due to the high expense, in addition to a $5,000 irrigation project in the same area, it may take up to a year to do something about the trees, depending on donations for removal, Grant said. The group, comprised of five members, is allocated a certain percentage of money through the school’s Shark Fund, an umbrella fund raising organization for the middle and high schools.
“We are happy to move them, we just need funds, donations and volunteers to do so,” Grant said. “This wasn’t a district thing, this was just about us trying to make the school a beautiful place for our kids [because] the school is like a jail, all concrete and fencing.”
Malibu High School Principal Mark Kelly, who called the project “well-intended,” said the school, in conjunction with the committee, plans to take a second look at the trees and come up with a resolution both residents and the school can agree upon.
Jay Griffith, who operates a landscaping business, worked with the committee in past years on beautification projects around the school, but did not participate in the recent planting. Griffith said, however, that he plans to “walk the school” with the committee to see what can be done about the tree problem and mentioned a possible plant exchange or trade for another plant, as he said he doubted any trees could be planted at the site due to their height.
“While you wouldn’t think it would impact the views, it will impact some of them considerably and was just a huge oversight on behalf of the main players [because] they didn’t do it with professional guidance,” Griffith said. “But these people have worked very hard and are willing to do anything to fix the situation.”
In the past five years, the group has planted and greened the school’s amphitheatre, the parking lot in front of the school and the senior quad. Some of this landscaping, supported solely through parent donations, will have to be uprooted or moved when the campus improvement and renovation project begins.