City Council proposes putting an end to appeals on projects that do not require variances. New planning commissioners appointed at meeting.
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
In an effort to separate politics from the planning process, the City Council proposed at its meeting on Monday to put an end to appeals on administrative approval projects. These are projects that are approved by city staff that abide by all zoning laws with no request for variances. This means they do not have to go before the Planning Commission. However, with the current city law, somebody could appeal a project, therefore bringing it before the commission, and possibly to the council.
Councilmember Jeff Jennings said by allowing projects that strictly go by the zoning laws to be appealed, it turns the project into a political issue. But Malibu CAN member and potential City Council candidate John Mazza said he disagreed. He said to allow the possibility of an appeal even on a project that requires no variances allows for a method to correct human error.
The council proposed that a list of all projects that have received administrative approval be put on a list at the planning counter and on the city’s Web site. Then if somebody believes human error was committed in approving the project, such as a home being approved for a larger height than the code allows, a person can bring this issue to city staff. City planners and possibly the city manager and city attorney could examine the project to see if an error was made. Jennings suggested if that still does not satisfy a person, going to court is always an option.
“I think that’s better than the remedy of coming before the City Council and bringing all your friends and neighbors and saying, ‘I supported you guys and now I want you to shut this guy [the owner of a project somebody wants appealed] down.'”
Mazza said he disagreed with that logic because he said the city is already plagued by too many lawsuits, something he said he would want to eliminate if he were elected to the council.
Cleaning up election process
The council election was also brought up during the public comment portion of the meeting. Resident Lloyd Ahern suggested the city hire an outside source to be a monitor to observe the campaign and how spending is done. He further suggested a workshop take place to clarify all the rules, with all the major people who will be participating in the campaign and the media taking part.
“In this last election, a ton of dough was poured into it and it’s starting to change the politics,” Ahern said. “We need to get someone we could hire and try to figure how to do this very civilly. We all know how much money and time it cost in 1998. It looks like a bigger tsunami is coming in 2004.”
The council suggested an item be placed on an upcoming agenda to discuss the possibility of following Ahern’s suggestion.
New commissioner appointed
Also at the meeting, three new planning commissioners were appointed. Mayor Ken Kearsley named former Planning Commissioner Les Moss to fill the position vacated by Richard Carrigan. Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Barovsky appointed Joel Walker to replace Deirdre Roney. Councilmember Andy Stern appointed Point Dume Community Association Co-Chair Pete Anthony to fill the post vacated by Robert Adler.
Plea for traffic light at
Corral Canyon
In addition, Theresa Tuchman, who lives at the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon Road, spoke about a need for a traffic light at the intersection. She told the council about a recent accident that occurred there in which her neighbor, Farshad Harandy, was struck by a car. Harandy’s wife, Elizabeth, also spoke to the council while breaking out in tears about the need for a traffic light.
The council expressed sympathy to the situation, and said they support the idea of a traffic light. However, they reminded everybody that they have no control over the situation, since only the state has absolute control of PCH and where traffic lights are placed. This particular intersection has been one of contention for many years, with several accidents having occurred including deaths.
Lastly, Native American Cultural Resource Committee members Kristine Clark and Redstar spoke about problems with the committee. Clark said that a member of the committee had vandalized her car during one meeting. Detective Bau Smith from the sheriff’s department said the case on the alleged vandalism had been closed, and that the committee member named had not been a suspect. City Attorney Hogin said there were many difficulties with the committee, and suggested they should be addressed. City Manager Katie Lichtig said there is an item on the agenda for the next council meeting about this.