Just back from a family vacation in New York City, I was actually able to stand on our deck and look at the ocean without wearing two layers of overcoats, gloves, a scarf wrapped around my neck and over my mouth, and a hat pulled down over my head, covering my ears. Periodically, it’s therapeutic to go back East in the winter time so you can re-remember why you’re living on the West Coast in a virtual paradise, where the heaviest item of clothing you’ll probably ever need is a T-shirt. Clearly, Irish coffee was invented for those long, wet cold winters, and with good reason. The flights back were a nightmare, but in retrospect, we were lucky to get out at all. In Chicago at Midway Airport, they kept announcing that they had opened a special lounge for travelers, and there were also cots available so they were obviously settling in for a long siege. Fortunately, a few hours delay and some considerable de-icing of the airplane, we were able to get out before the next storm hit.
LA County Sheriff Lee Baca announced this morning that he has decided to step down at the end of this month before the end of his term of office. Although people were not very surprised that he decided not to run, what was surprising is that he did it so abruptly. It set many of us wondering if the ongoing federal investigation was getting close to him personally. Baca is currently serving his fourth term, which runs until Nov. 2014. The primary, which looks to be highly contested, is in June 2014. Baca’s sudden resignation at the end of this month throws the question of an interim sheriff into the hands of the Board of Supervisors with some guessing that with all of the problems the Sheriff’s Dept. has had lately, they may be looking outside of the department for a new temporary leader. Since whomever they appoint would have a leg up in the race for Sheriff, the competition promises to be fierce.
The Malibu City Council election is on April 8 this year, and so far the two incumbents, Laura Rosenthal and Lou La Monte, have pulled papers, as well as Hamish Patterson and Andy Lyon, who both ran and lost the last time. In the 2010 election, Rosenthal received 1,734 votes and La Monte 1,324 votes, respectively, finishing first and second. In the 2012 election when Skylar Peak, John Sibert and Joan House won, Patterson received 748 votes and Lyon 694 votes. Additionally, there is a new face in the race, June Louks, who is active in the Malibu Agricultural Society. People who want to run have until this Friday to get in their nominating papers. There is also the possibility that there may be some sort of a formula retail ordinance on this ballot.
The Planning Commission started to deal this week with a proposed five home development on a privately owned piece of land up on Bluffs Parks. The usual never growth, no growth, over my dead body anti-growth crowd predictably showed up to make noise, but there were also a few others with a twist.
Malibu Country Estates and the proposed hotel group also objected that their views would be impaired, which raises a very interesting issue that occurs and reoccurs here in Malibu. Many people live behind or adjacent to an empty lot and once they get used to that view, they get very upset when someone comes along and wants to build on that vacant lot because that new house is going to cut down part or all of their view. That’s the reason we have a zoning code, so it isn’t just a popularity contest. I have a right to build on my lot just the way you have a right to build on your lot, just as long as I do it within the rules relating to height and size and bulk. Many have trouble with that concept but zoning can’t be that whoever builds first wins and is therefore able to block everyone else from using their lot. Sometimes the configuration of the lot allows them to resite their house to accommodate a neighbor, but sometimes not. If the code allows you to build a two-story house, then that’s the law even if the neighbors don’t like it. For now, it’s all in the hands of the Planning Commission.