Calvo exemptions to the Coastal Act, in place before Malibu became a city but later dropped, were approved in a 5-0 vote by Malibu’s Planning Commission at its Monday night meeting.
Up until 1991, under the exemption, state law stated that applicants for home construction projects on vacant lots in some Malibu neighborhoods–on the landside of Pacific Coast Highway–did not need review by the California Coastal Commission. When Malibu became a city in 1991 it refused to adopt the policy. This forced all projects to go to the Coastal Commission, and has caused numerous delays in construction projects ranging from as simple as putting up a fence to full construction of a new home.
Affected neighborhoods include Big Rock, Malibu Park, Point Dume (the interior), Topanga, Malibu Knolls in the Civic Center area, Malibu Country Estates, Trancas, Sweetwater Mesa, Carbon Canyon, Carbon Mesa and Las Flores Canyon. This is about 25 percent of Malibu’s total land area, said Planning Commission chair Ed Lipnick.
The reinstated exemption expects to reduce the processing time for obtaining building permits by six to eight months.
“There’s always been a hindrance for having development done,” said Commissioner Ted Vaill. “Not only would they have to go before the city, but also the California Coastal Commission.”
In other news, the commission unanimously approved sending the draft Civic Center design guidelines to the City Council. The commission tweaked about 20 typographical errors and sentence-structures, then appointed Lipnick and Vice Chair Andy Stern to review the amended guidelines and then recommend their adoption.
At the City Council’s May 29 meeting, it will likely discuss the guidelines, said Barry Hogan, planning director.
The commission has devoted five hearings to discussion on the guidelines since the council directed it to further revise them.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the Planning Commission voted 4-1 to approve a new two-story, 8,409-square-foot home on a 6.4-acre site on E. Winding Way. At issue was whether the applicant could be granted a variance for grading in excess of 1,000 cubic yards.
Tacked onto the commission’s approval were two conditions–the first to accept applicants offer of two deed restrictions for two separate parcels, thus dedicating them to open space. The other resolution was to incorporate landscape screening the home’s driveway.
Commissioner Richard Carrigan voted against the project, saying he was uncomfortable setting a precedent for other properties.
The city received eight letters from neighbors supporting the project, said Sheila Powers, assistant planner. “This is not your everyday project,” she said, adding that few lots in Malibu offer the flexibility to be subdivided.
Hogan agreed. “When you break this up and look at the pieces, it’s really not that different than any other site-plan reviews,” he said. The property is owned by Marc Gurvitz.
In another vote, the Planning Commission approved, 5-0, an application from Larry Miner for a site owned by a “Mr. And Mrs. Carsey” in the 28000 area of PCH to repair a failing slope covered by gunite, construct retaining walls, and provide access to a guesthouse and a deck at the base of the bluff.
All commissioners questioned why it took more than 14 months for the application to reach the commission. Associate Planner Meredith Elguira said, first a geologist reviewed the site and then the applicant had to slightly revise the project.
Commissioner Carrigan urged the city to do something, “even if it’s just a letter,” to get the California Coastal Commission to support the project.
Also, an agenda item before the Planning Commission to approve the construction of an 8,250-square-foot single-family home in the 6200 block of Porterdale Drive was continued to the commission’s May 21 meeting.