I attended, for the first time, a Planning Commission hearing last week. The commissioners were discussing the Malibu Bay Company Development Agreement, specifically the proposed donation of the Point Dume parcel, purportedly for the use of ball fields. I would like to thank the commission for thoughtfully listening to those members of the public who attended and spoke. The commission is also to be commended for its efforts to slow a process when it felt, as it does, rushed. Five of our fellow citizens have agreed to perform a tremendous amount of work. They appear to be giving the matter full consideration for which all Malibu citizens should thank them.
As for my fellow citizens, please know that this meeting was an eye-opener for me. Did you know that the Malibu Bay Company has a veto power over what is built on the Point Dume parcel? Did you know that another parcel near Trancas, without the frightening ingress/egress problems inherent at the Point Dume site, appraised for a small fraction of the Point Dume site? Have you asked your elected representatives why they did not negotiate for the Trancas site instead of the Point Dume site? Did you ask your elected representatives what the realistic build-out numbers were for the Chili Cook-Off site? Have you asked your elected representatives about the traffic implications of what they are proposing? The answer for me to all of these questions was “no.”
I learned that these questions should be asked in a little over an hour of my time. What is being proposed will alter Malibu for at least a century. Take the time to inform yourself. Learning what is happening and participating will be a better example to your kids and make them better citizens than all the highly structured play in the world. This is a democracy. Participate. I haven’t in the past, but I will now. Join me.
Bill Sampson