The California Coastal Commission unanimously voted to move forward with a Santa Monica Mountains Local Coastal Program amendment at their Aug. 10 meeting. The amendment proposed changing zoning in some parts of the Santa Monica Mountains to reflect actual ownership.
A land use plan for the Santa Monica Mountains, backed by former longtime LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, was originally approved in Oct. 2014. This included zoning the area while taking into account the City of Malibu and Pepperdine University land. Sections of the land, referred to as “parcels,” were created to differentiate between public and private land.
In the time since the original plan was approved, Coastal Commission staff discovered 95 parcels were zoned incorrectly. Wesley Horne, a coastal program analyst, said at the meeting it was “unclear how this happened” but that a “parcel-specific” analysis had taken place to rectify the situation. Sixty-one parcels designated for residential use will be rezoned for public use, while 31 privately owned parcels will be rezoned for public use. Another three parcels will be rezoned for recreational use based on records of similar usage dating back to the 1950s. Permit records, land use and other documentation prior to the certification under the plan were reviewed to accurately rezone the parcels.
The rest of the proposed amendment included modifications to the text of the plan to dissuade illegal developing.
The meeting took place at the King Gillette Ranch in Calabasas on Thursday, Aug. 10. The next Coastal Commission meeting is scheduled to take place Sept. 13-15 in Cambria.