The Malibu City Council on Monday will determine which of several options it will take regarding a controversial property adjacent to Bluffs Park. Also at the meeting, the council will vote on reducing the distance allowed between marijuana dispensaries and restricted facilities in certain cases, and it will consider an application to remodel the 76 gas station complex at the corner of Corral Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway.
The 24-acre Crummer property sits next to Bluffs park and the property owner, Richard Ackerman, has a pending development agreement with the city that is currently under environmental review. The agreement calls for five residential gated homes and Ackerman donating a 1.75-acre parcel to the city for parkland.
Controversy ensued when during a meeting to change the zoning of the Crummer site, the Coastal Commission tossed in the feature that the donated land could only be used as a passive park. City officials want it eligible for active use so a ball field could be built there.
Mayor Jefferson Wagner and Mayor Pro Tem John Sibert have been meeting with various coastal commissioners about this issue as part of an ad-hoc committee. Also, the city hired a consultant to lobby the commission about the matter.
The council must decide by Aug. 11 how to officially respond to the commission’s parkland designation and other features of its approval for the rezoning of the LCP designation of the property from visitor-serving commercial to residential. However, the city’s deadline could be extended up to a year.
Also at the meeting, the council will vote on a recommendation to reduce the distance allowed between marijuana dispensaries and protected facilities, such as religious worship centers, schools and parks, from a 1,000-foot radius to a 500-foot radius. This reduction would only be allowed in certain cases. City staff has recommended three options: that it be allowed if the dispensary has been at an existing location since at least Jan. 1, 2007; that it could be within 500 feet of parks and playgrounds, specifically if the dispensary could not be seen from the park or playground; or that it be allowed within 500 feet of parks or playgrounds regardless of whether the dispensary could be seen from them.
This proposed amendment to the city’s marijuana dispensary ordinance would accommodate Green Angel Collective, which recently closed its doors at its location on 21355 Pacific Coast Highway, measured by the city to be within 1,000 feet of Las Flores Creek Park (Green Angel management disputed this measurement).
Green Angel had been operating since 2006. To comply with the city’s marijuana dispensaries ordinance adopted in 2008, management was forced to seek a conditional use permit. It was denied one from the Planning Commission and the City Council because of the distance to Las Flores Creek Park.
The Planning Commission last month recommended the council not approve the amendment to the marijuana dispensary ordinance.
Another item on the agenda is the remodel of the 76 gas station center at Corral Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway. The owner is proposing to eliminate two vehicle service bays to allow for an expansion of the convenience store. Removal of storage containers is also proposed as well as new landscaping. This must go before the City Council because there are technical zoning issues that need to be clarified, including inconsistencies with how the property is zoned according to different documents.
The Planning Commission in May approved the application, but restricted the amount of alcohol the owner could sell to what would be allowed in the convenience store if it were to remain at its original size. City staff had expressed concern at the meeting about how that could be monitored and enforced.