In other news, former Cross Creek Plaza owner Steve Soboroff pitches a Whole Foods store for Malibu, and the city will review appeals fees.
By Jonathan Friedman / The Malibu Times
The City Council on Monday will consider a recommendation by the Public Safety Commission to implement an automatic license plate recognition system (ALPR). With this system, cameras installed on traffic signals, patrol cars or “mobile systems” would scan license plates as cars drive past. The license numbers would be run through a database that includes information on stolen vehicles, wanted felons, stolen license plates, those with warrants and misdemeanors, sex offenders and people with parking violations. The cost to install the cameras is $32,000, according to the city. The Public Safety Commission has recommended installing the cameras on two patrol vehicles.
The Public Safety Commission last month received a presentation on the ALPR systems along with a presentation on red light cameras, which City Council member Pamela Conley Ulich had requested. The commission determined red light cameras were not worth the cost after hearing from Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s officials that only seven of 300 accidents in Malibu last year were related to cars driving through red lights. Ninety percent of the cities in Los Angeles County use the ALPR systems.
“The commission agreed that ALPR systems were another tool to aid the Sheriff’s Department in preventing crime in the city,” the staff report states.
Septic update
Also at the meeting, the council will receive an update on the status of the State Water Resources Control Board’s approval of a septic system prohibition in the Civic Center Area. When the board approved the prohibition in September, it instructed City Manager Jim Thorsen and Sam Unger, head of the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, to have discussions on a possible compromise that could satisfy both sides.
The staff report requests that council members “provide direction to staff on options the city could consider in response to the [septic system prohibition].”
The prohibition includes an immediate halt to permitting of septic systems in the Civic Center area and a phasing out of existing commercial systems by 2015 and residential systems by 2019. Many city officials and those affected by the prohibition say it is far reaching, and some suggest that modern septic systems are sophisticated enough that they do not pollute the watershed. The council last month approved an agreement that it would not sue the state over the prohibition before March while Thorsen and Unger negotiate.
Also at the meeting, the council will hear the results of a groundwater modeling study, one of the many Civic Center area water studies that have been recently completed or are near completion.
Whole Foods, produce stands in Malibu?
Another agenda item is a council vote on issuing a request for proposals (RFP) for an environmental impact report for a proposed Whole Foods in the Civic Center. Steve Soboroff, former owner of Cross Creek Plaza (now known as Malibu Village], submitted an application for the project to the city in May. The project site is the current location of Papa Jack’s Skate Park at the northwest corner of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road. The application calls for a 24,000-square-foot Whole Foods building and four buildings totaling 14,000 square feet of additional retail space, with up to 4,000 square feet dedicated to restaurant and food service.
Also on Monday, the council will decide whether to direct staff to amend city zoning rules to allow for roadside produce/field stands. The council had asked in May that staff research information on this issue. Due to safety concerns, the staff report for the item recommended against the amendment.
“The most logical place for field stands would be on Pacific Coast Highway since this is the main roadway in the city where potential customers of the field stands would be found,” the staff report states. “Staff believes that field stands along PCH could pose a significant safety issue. In addition, field stands would not be allowed anywhere in Caltrans’ right-of-way.”
The report recommends that people selling produce grown on their property can “through word of mouth advise their neighbors that they had fruits and/or vegetables for sale and invite people to come to their house to purchase these items.”
Other items on the agenda include a modification of the local building code to comply with the state building code that will go into effect on Jan. 1. Also, the council will consider whether to create a two-person City Council Library subcommittee to oversee the current renovation project and future services offered at the library.