City and state are looking at alternatives, including taking another look at Crummer property.
By Jonathan Friedman/Special to The Malibu Times
The California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and the City of Malibu are back at the negotiating table after the state rejected the latest offer by the city to solve its conflict over the use of land at Bluffs Park.
In February, then-Mayor Jeff Jennings wrote a letter to the DPR offering to exchange the city’s 527-acre Charmlee Wilderness Park for the six acres of ball fields at Bluffs. DPR acting-Director Ruth Coleman responded with a letter earlier this month saying that acquiring Charmlee “presents many substantial obstacles.”
“The Property (Charmlee) is not contiguous to any of our existing State Park units in the Santa Monica Mountains, and given our current budgetary restraints it would therefore be impossible to maintain the current level of operation at the park,” Coleman wrote.
She wrote that if the DPR controlled Charmlee, budget issues would make it unable to properly manage the volunteer programs already in place there. She added that development possibilities at Charmlee are limited because it would create more traffic, and in her opinion the narrow access roads that lead to the park would be unable to handle this.
Jennings declined to comment on most of the reasons for the rejection of his offer, saying there was no profit in arguing whether they were sound. But he did say the city might have been able to assist with the transition for a period of time, potentially solving some of the management issues. Jennings said he quietly brought that up, but the idea did not persuade anybody.
DPR Southern Division Chief Ted Jackson told the The Malibu Times that even if the city helped out for a certain amount of time, it would not solve the long-term problem.
“Ultimately, within two or three years, or whatever a brief period of time may be, we would be faced with the same conundrum, which is, how do you operate that larger parcel with all of the programs they already have in place there without any additional staff or money,” he said.
Jackson and DPR Malibu Sector Superintendent Hayden Sohm met with City Manager Katie Lichtig, Mayor Ken Kearsley and Jennings once since the rejection letter was sent to look for alternative ideas. One of them includes the city acquiring the Crummer Trust property, located adjacent to Bluffs. Originally, Roy Crummer had offered to donate a portion of that property, and then he would build houses on the rest of it. But he later withdrew that offer, and now the city is looking to possibly acquire the entire property. But Jennings said even if that were to occur, it would not necessarily be a simple purchase.
“It’s still very vague how this might play out,” he said. “But it might well involve one or more state agencies and the possibility of some property swaps and so forth.”
Other agencies that could be included in a multiland swap and purchase include the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC). Lichtig said SMMC acquiring Charmlee is one of the new possibilities, but declined to comment any further. Jennings said he had heard about that, but added that it was one of only several things that could occur.
“There has been some suggestion that the conservancy may have an interest in Charmlee Park, that the state park system may have an interest in some land that the conservancy owns,” he said. “What comes out of this may be a fairly complicated arrangement, but at this stage of the game it’s just premature to describe it. It would just be sort of speculation.”
But SMMC Chief Deputy Director Rorie Skei said she was not aware of any interest the group has in acquiring Charmlee, and laughed at the idea. She added that if that acquisition attempt was in the cards, she would know about it. SMMC Executive Director Joe Edminston is away this week, and could not be reached for comment.
Sohm said the DPR has talked briefly with SMMC about the possibility of it being a third party involved in any land deal. Skei said she was unaware of any discussions, and suggested Edminston might know about that.
Jackson added that the DPR has not totally taken Charmlee off the table. He said SMMC’s involvement in a deal or any third party group could keep Charmlee in the picture.
“It’s still a little early in the process, so I don’t want to go out on a limb on it, but the Charmlee property is still something that is intriguing to the state,” he said.
Both sides of the issue said there is no official timeline for solving the conflict, but they added they would like to get the situation taken care of sooner than later.
“We want to get this matter resolved,” Jennings said. “And so I expect that, to borrow a phrase from the president, ‘it will be weeks not months.’ “
