Although the California Coastal Commission has prohibited the use of any field lights, the school has been using temporary lights for the past five years.
By Nora Fleming / Special to The Malibu Times
Although Malibu High School came under fire for using temporary athletic field lights in violation of a state-issued permit, the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board of Education voted last week in favor of applying for an amendment to the permit to maintain temporary lighting for the school’s next football season. The current permit, issued by the California Coastal Commission, prohibits any night lighting on the school’s athletic field.
Those opposed to the project have expressed concerns that the construction project includes plans for permanent lights that could be used up to 203 nights a year. High school athletes and parents of students in favor of the lights said evening games were a necessary part of building a sustainable athletic program and as a community builder.
The California Coastal Commission issued a coastal development permit in 2000 under Proposition X, another school improvements project, which prohibits both permanent and temporary lighting at Malibu High School. However, the school has used temporary field lights for the past five years, which were paid for by private donations, school Principal Mark Kelly said.
“How did you get so off track?” asked resident Steve Uhring. “You’re lighting up the neighborhood like Times Square when you promised no night lighting. There’s a coastal development permit you’ve directed your consultants to ignore. Apparently, the California Coastal Commission applies to everyone but [the school district].”
The board agreed that while the proposed permanent lighting, particularly the number of nights they would be used, should be reexamined, it was important to continue the school’s Friday night football games next season, and to have field lights used legally. The board agreed that further community workshops and meetings might be necessary to continue discussion about the number of nights the lights might be used, if approved.
Several board members apologized for the use of the lights at Malibu High during the past five years without obtaining an amendment to the existing permit, which had contributed to a mistrust of the school district by some Malibu Park neighbors.
“There seems to be an erosion of trust,” said Board member Oscar de la Torre. “I think that one of the outcomes of [continued] discussions needs to be some guarantee of strict guidelines in the use of the lights, and that in order for us to have a reasonable compromise we need to make it clear to the community that we need to be held accountable in the future.”
The district said it would pay for CAA Consulting to apply to the California Coastal Commission for an amendment to the existing permit so that temporary lights could be used next year, but agreed not to use BB money to do so.
Steve Hudson, district manager for the South Central Coast office of the CCC, said he was unaware of any temporary lighting being used at the school during the past few years, but due to the current permit, use of lights would be cause for enforcement from the CCC.
Hudson said the item on the current permit prohibiting lighting was made due to concerns about the native and wildlife habitat in the area. If the district were to apply for an amendment, it would be asked to prove that the “amendment would not lessen the intent of the previous requirement of the permit,” specifically that the lighting would not cause substantial negative environmental impact.
In August of last year, the school board approved hiring a consulting group to apply for an amendment for the permanent lights on behalf of the district; this application will depend on completion and evaluation of the project’s environmental impact report, slated for spring this year.
The 203 nights was a number provided at a BB meeting last month in an effort to be “open and transparent,” said Jan Maez, SMMUSD assistant superintendent. This number was generated based on all possible uses of the lights, including games for other sports teams and practices.
“We want to sit down with the community and put all of this on the table and find a reasonable plan,” Maez said. “We know that 203 nights is not going to be acceptable and want to reach a middle ground, and we need to continue community meetings to reach that [middle ground].”
The City of Malibu currently has a joint-use agreement in place with the district to use Malibu High School facilities in exchange for an annual sum paid to the district. It is undetermined how many nights the city would be able to use facilities with night lighting, if the permanent lights are approved.