I want to thank the Malibu Times for its recent series of articles on development in Malibu and how it relates to the needs of local citizens and businesses. In the last article, Councilmember Sharon Barovsky claimed frustration by stating “…but legally we can’t tell businesses who they can rent to” as if that is an excuse for doing nothing. As Planning Commissioner Regan Schaar and Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich have been saying for years, of course you can do something legally and that is to pass the very planning tools cities, such as Carmel, have used for years to protect their citizens from the exploitation of tourist serving development.
Our present city council has the attitude that for some reason those tools are not “legal.” Perhaps it is ignorance, more likely it is a pro-development philosophy. I have no problem as a landlord following the law in Laguna Beach that requires me to go before the City Council and ask for permission to rent to a tenant who wishes to change the use of a store or restaurant. If I want to rent to a T-shirt shop, I know the answer. “No way!
It is time our city council members learn the very basics of planning and support modern city planning to protect the services our citizens need before they are all gone. Pamela Conley Ulich is the lone member of the City Council who understands that the book on modern city planning was not written by Adam Smith.
John Mazza