The following letter was addressed to Mike Roos.
The city’s questionable processing and reviews of the 28-car garage rising with all the charm of a Nazi bunker on Grasswood Avenue is a sad example of the current council and staff’s yielding to $pecial interests, and a very dramatic argument of why the Coastal Commission must prevail in the current push and pull over the proposed LCP.
The city continues to ignore the fact that the construction of a 28 car private garage museum, with an accessory living area, in an RR District, within the Coastal Zone, is a clear violation of the Municipal Code, Article IX, Chapter 9.2.10, 11. To say that the garage is anything but the primary use of the site, as the council states, raises the question of its collective competence, or worse, a malfeasance for whatever reward.
Indeed, the application for the building permit by the owner openly stated the work as a “garage museum” of 6122 square foot, and living area of 880 square feet. It should be noted that in granting the project an exemption from the Coastal Commission review, the description of the project was changed to a single family dwelling, with no mention of the garage. Arrogance? Ignorance? Greed?
No wonder the council flusters and blusters when its actions are questioned, while the staff covers their heads, smirking. For those who care about the future of Malibu, and the Coast, we have in the City Council and staff an embarrassment and a problem.
Sam Hall Kaplan