Proposed development deal to be aired May 23

By The Malibu Times · Thu May 11 2000

In a surprise announcement at Monday's City Council meeting, Mayor Tom Hasse said the city's proposed agreement with the Malibu Bay Company will be presented at the next council meeting May 23.

Hasse and Mayor Pro Tem House, who negotiated the deal for nearly a year, presented highlights of the agreement to the old council in February. It was the flashpoint of controversy throughout the City Council campaigns.

Hasse made the announcement of the 20-year deal with the city's largest landowner when he was suggesting City Council subcommittee assignments. [See sidebar.]

Acknowledging how controversial his and House's Ad Hoc Committee status was in negotiating with Malibu Bay Company and other Civic Center property owners, Hasse suggested that the council's telecommunications subcommittee also be considered an Ad Hoc Committee "for the sole purpose of negotiating the city's cable television franchise." Those negotiations need to be discussed in closed session, Hasse said.

In other action in an unusually short and harmonious meeting, the council:

• Asked for a staff report on Malibu Colony Association President Paul Almond's complaint about the two-tiered system of street numbers in the colony.

• Asked for a staff report on Laure Stern's complaint of extensive construction on Westward Beach by Big Ship Productions.

• Asked for a staff report on hiring a Special Projects Coordinator.

• Asked for a staff report on amending the proposed resolution establishing the Harry Barovsky Memorial Youth Commission to establish more flexibility in the appointments. Instructed Parks & Recreation Director Paul Adams to contact schools to get more applications by the May 19 deadline.

• Asked for a staff report on cleaning up graffiti within hours rather than days.

• Continued public hearings on a parkland dedication ordinance, on a maximum allowable commercial development ordinance, and appeals of planning commission decisions on 26520 and 26524 Latigo Shore Drive by attorney Frank Angel.

• Approved a Master Plan of Drainage.

• Awarded a contract to San Diego State University for a visitor survey for the access study on Point Dume Headlands State Preserve. The university will charge $60,000 rather than the $84,000 proposed by the Godbe Research consulting firm.

• Agreed to continue the practice of appointing the Mayor and Mayor Pro Tem to intergovernmental agencies, with the exception of the state insurance authority and League of California Cities, where the entire council is appointed.

• Appointed Barbara Barsocchini to the Los Angeles County West District mosquito board.

• Approved a Request for Proposal for Codification of the city's Municipal Code: Estimated cost, $10,000 - $50,000.

• Approved granting the county jurisdiction on Cavalleri Road street lights.

"It's such a change," noted Hasse of the new council's 4-0 votes.