When it comes to Malibu, we understand that it’s going to cost more to rent or buy, shop, and eat out. Those of us who have chosen to live in Malibu have decided that living where the air is clean and fresh, the ocean within sight, and the charms of Los Angeles less than an hour away is worth the fact that, well, the charms of Los Angeles are a fair bit away. If you, like me, have chosen to live with the inconvenience and the extra cost, it’s because you are astounded at your good fortune at being able to find a way to make it work to live in such a magnificent place, especially when more and more similarly unique towns in natural settings have been transformed into cookie cutter replicas of one another, with the same indistinguishable stores and malls.
I bear no grudge against developers who have invested money here in the hopes of maximizing their return; that’s just business. Sure, it would be wonderful if, out of the goodness of their hearts, they kept rents low, preserved what citizens value about their city and offered preferential treatment to local, unique mom and pop shops. But human nature being what it is, it’s unlikely that those who are focused on rates of return are going to generously shift gears and tone down their interest in getting the highest rent possible for their space.
For our city to grow in a balanced way, while staying true to our general plan which recognizes our town as a unique beach and rural community, we will have to come up with a fair and reasonable process to ensure that our city planners and council members serve the residents by maintaining diversity, balance, and an emphasis on unique, local businesses. While our Chamber of Commerce continues its efforts to misrepresent the realities of a CUP or retail ordinance, communities across the country have successfully employed both to preserve the local feel of their cities.
Our request, again, is that the chamber work with the city and its representatives to create a process by which developers and landlords are asked for some degree of accountability for the stores they lease out on their properties. Naturally, there will be resistance. Why would a developer embrace a new step in the process of getting a building leased out when they currently are allowed to lease to the highest bidder, regardless of how many similar stores already exist? If we wait for the chamber, which appears almost exclusively invested in representing the interests of its wealthiest and most influential members, we will never get a procedure in place that will preserve the Malibu we so love. I hope those of you who share my views will write to our council members and let them know that you support our efforts to hold on to what’s left of the unique charm of our town. While there are indeed a group of us making a lot of noise, we need others to step up and make their wishes known.
If you want a Malibu with an endless supply of Dominos, Payless Shoes and Taco Bell, alongside Missoni, Maxfield and Ron Herman, do nothing. Tell yourself that “someone else” will deal with the rampant, unrestricted developing going on here. But if you, like those of us spending time and energy working to establish a CUP and/or retail ordinance, want to reclaim the Malibu we once knew, please help. Contact our council members, write letters, show up at meetings and come online to sign the petition change.org/petitions/preserve-malibus-community-and-soul. Please step up, and contribute something to this effort.
By Susan Stiffelman