Officials on Tuesday balked at $200,000 in funding for a proposed engineering survey of Pacific Coast Highway parking spaces in Malibu.Â
La Monte and Councilman John Sibert turned down funding the proposal during a meeting of their Administration and Finance Subcommittee on Tuesday afternoon at City Hall. Both were hesitant to begin paying for a plan that has not been very clearly vetted through Caltrans and the California Coastal Commission—two agencies with heavy clout over PCH, a state-owned highway.Â
“This is not our highway,” Councilman Lou La Monte said.
The idea to survey parking was brought forth by Mayor Joan House when she was appointed earlier this year.
“The study would include the entire length of PCH from the City’s eastern boundary to the western boundary and would include an analysis of parking spaces, the width of parking spaces, signage and safety factors,” according to a staff report.
La Monte encouraged City Manager Jim Thorsen to look for funding sources elsewhere, possibly through grants with Caltrans, the Coastal Commission or the California Highway Patrol.
They want more cooperation from other state agencies for fear that a city-led study could easily be ignored, they said.Â
“The only thing that I’m concerned about is we somehow spend $200,000 on this incredible study and we give it to Caltrans and they say, thank you very much, [and ignore it],” La Monte said. “They have no skin in the game.”
Thorsen said the city has talked with Caltrans officials about the study and “they support it, although they don’t have the funding for it.”
La Monte also cited an ongoing PCH Safety Study already being conducted by the City of Malibu. The study aims to improve safety along Malibu’s main thoroughfare by identifying the worst problems and sites. An initial report highlighted 80 “potential safety issues.” It also proposed some arguably drastic safety remedies, including a bike lane stretching the length of PCH in Malibu as well as instituting paid parking along the highway through city limits.Â