Transparent is the word for Marcia Hanscom’s sudden concern for the homeowner who needs a coastal permit when the truth is she and her comrades have been attending every Coastal hearing for the last two yeas portraying Malibu homeowners as rich, selfish criminals for wanting to actually live in the homes they own, telling the Commission to stop all “development” including remodels and urging the Commission to classify every property in Malibu as unusable “ESHA.”
Where was Ms. Hanscom and the Sierra Club when a young couple in Big Rock tried to add a bedroom for their newborn and the CCC forced them to write checks for $150,000 in studies and fees, only to turn around after their extortion and deny the couple permission to add on to their home. There are countless stories of the Coastal Commissars abusing landowners, and environmental bullies like Ms. Hanscom have cheered them on at every turn.
And now that the Coastal Commission has sold out Malibu by approving a huge increase in building in the Civic Center so they can feel politically correct by jamming many times more than the 15 million visitors our small town already gets every year, she blames the City Council. Remember, Ms Hansom, that it was the Coastal Commission, not the City Council, that increased the zoning in the Civic Center to allow far more development than the Bay Company has proposed. As much as you try to protect your beloved Coastal Commission, their insistence on making the Civic Center into a concrete jungle has been repeatedly opposed by our residents and our City Council.
It is the Coastal Commission who is refusing to comply with the law and issue remodeling permits and denying people their legal right to a Referendum. I advise her to go to the Courthouse and look at the dozens of lawsuits that have been filed against the Commission demanding they comply with the Permit Streamlining Act and respond to permit applications within 60 days as the law requires. While the Commission has been ignoring the law in dealing with individual homeowners for years, this time they will be rebuked by the Courts in short order for trying to disenfranchise and deny permitting rights for an entire town. It is apparent that the Sierra Club’s attack on the City Council is an attempt to make way for a Van de Hoek council bid in the next election. But as frequently happens to people who don’t tell the truth, we don’t trust the Sierra Club anymore.
Ilsa Erpel