Back to nature

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Many people in the community still are not aware of the genesis of the park idea in the Trancas area. Beginning on April 9, 2001, in many closed sessions and never fully disclosed in regular sessions, negotiations were underway between the then City Council and D.L. Malibu, Inc., former property owners of the original five lots off Trancas Canyon Road at La Gloria Drive. Most residents, myself included, were clueless about the proposed deal. Lot 3, the largest and undisturbed portion, was to be retained by D.L. Malibu, Inc. while lots 1, 2, 4 and 5, which had already suffered considerable environmental damage, were to be donated to the City of Malibu. The transaction was signed on January 2, 2002.

Some residents at a later time were invited to a workshop at the Malibu West Beach Club. There they were treated to the well-known marketing ploy of “choices.” There they were asked to choose among a number of possibilities. “Do you want this kind of park or that kind of park?” They were never given the choice of having a park in the first place in a residentially zoned (RR5) and fire-endangered neighborhood.

Trancas Canyon Road is the only outlet for hundreds and hundreds of dwellings to Pacific Coast Highway. We learned all too well in the January, 2003, fire that a long trail of bumper-to-bumper cars coming down from the Trancas Highlands was not compatible with the fire trucks going up to fight the fire.

The Trancas DEIR in all its 371-page glory does not address the scenario. Nor does it address the hazards of cutting into some 54,000 cubic yards of what is already “fill” dirt, dirt that has already been dumped at the site in previous years. I am imploring the new City Council to restore the park from its present condition to a more natural state. A safe environment and one where families of deer are free to roam would be the best gift we could give our youngsters.

Terry Campeau