City Council nods at building and safety code amendments and fee structure changes, concurs with residents about PCH traffic hazards and does the LCP limbo dance.
By Sylvie Belmond/Special to The Malibu Times
Traffic safety
Two weeks after a tragic accident took the life of a young man from an already grieving family, several residents who live by Pacific Coast Highway came to Monday’s council meeting to urge the Malibu City Council to take action on the dangerous highway conditions.
Norman Ollestad, his wife, Kerry and 2-year-old son, Noah, live by the highway. The family is concerned that PCH is a real public safety issue, combining residential neighborhoods with a freeway-like environment.
“The PCH through Malibu is a glaring public safety liability,” Norman Ollestad said.
Ollestad suggested the city or the state install cameras in areas commonly used for speeding. “A highly visible, well-advertised camera would have a direct effect on slowing down cars,” he said.
Carol Randall, whose son-in-law, Mark Osborn, was killed two weeks ago by a speeding car while he stood in the family’s driveway off PCH, wanted to make sure that he is not just another casualty of the highway. She asked the city to make traffic safety a priority.
Assemblymember Fran Pavley concurred in a letter to the council. “I was very saddened to hear of the most recent fatal accident,” she wrote. “I would support any efforts on the part of the city, law enforcement, and Caltrans to reduce speeds along PCH and to assist in enforcement of speeding and unsafe driving patterns.”
At the meeting, the council agreed that something needs to be done, and Lost Hills-Malibu Sheriff’s Lt. Steve Van Herpe echoed these sentiments, stating that the department is already working on this matter with the city.
Local coastal plan limbo
A grassroots effort by Malibu residents gathered more than 2,600 signatures for a referendum to suspend the California Coastal Commission’s Local Coastal Plan. The signatures were delivered to the city and to Los Angeles County on Oct. 9 for verification, stalling the new plan’s implementation procedures.
This suspension placed the LCP in limbo and residents who have a permit pending with the Coastal Commission may experience some delays as the commission decides who will administer the permits until a final LCP is approved. But it is not yet clear who will have the authority to repeal the plan and what will happen next.
In an effort to be prepared, Mayor Jeff Jennings directed staff to amend the LCP in a manner that will be compatible with Malibu’s needs so the city is ready to resubmit a plan to the commission for approval.
“Now the CCC is responsible to administer coastal permits until the referendum issue is resolved,” he said.
Amendments proposed
As the city adopted an updated 2001 California Building and Safety code, with amendments, Los Angeles County also adopted this code with further amendments.
While the state creates building code standards, they can be further amended by independent jurisdictions to accommodate specific geographic or geological needs or for safety concerns.
So the City Council approved a first reading to amend the Malibu building and safety code as proposed by the city’s Building and Safety Department.
City Building and Safety Director Vic Peterson presented a series of amendments that will make it easier for the city to monitor business occupancy and check for adequate water disposal systems, among other things.
Currently, Malibu does not issue business licenses; therefore, the city has difficulty monitoring business movement in individual commercial complexes. Thus, when there is a change in tenancy, the city will now perform business occupancy inspections before new occupants can use a commercial location.
The city will also require commercial property owners to obtain a permit before they resurface, repaint or repave parking lots. This new requirement will allow the city to ensure that appropriate parking spaces (many parking lots are poorly designed to accommodate too many cars in tight spaces) handicapped accessibility are provided.
The amendments would also allow the Building and Safety Board of Appeals to act as a code enforcement appeals board.
As of Jan.1, 2003, all new or failing onsite water treatment systems will need to obtain an operating permit before they can be installed or re-installed. Existing commercial and multifamily dwellings will also have to apply for the operating permit prior to Jan, 1, 2004.
“This will help the city locate and mange all systems,” said Peterson. These permits would have to be renewed regularly. However, commercial properties will have to renew permits more frequently than individual homeowners.
The city will also require onsite wastewater treatment system inspectors to register with the city to ensure that the inspections are done correctly.
Building and safety permit fee changes
The Council unanimously approved a building and safety permit fee structure change to help recover the city’s actual expenses.
The current fee structure utilized by the city was adopted in 1993 and it has not changed since that time.
“Some fees will go up while others will go down,” said Julia James, director of administrative services.
Historically, the city based the calculation of building fees on construction valuation, but this method was relatively arbitrary and it did not necessarily cover the costs incurred by the city. For this reason, the city proposed to base its fees on the average time needed to complete a task and the size of individual projects.
These fees apply to a variety of items, from balcony additions to re-roofing and patio covers.
Pool therapy aerobics class displaced
Three speakers were concerned that a city pool therapy class program at Malibu High School was disrupted by city staff disputes. They noted that the pool was not made available for this program, while space and time were made available for other privately operated programs. They asserted there might be a conflict of interest with some city staff members.
The city, the school district and the Malibu Aquatics Club currently share the pool at the high school, with time slots allotted to each entity. However, shorter winter hours result in a tight squeeze for the city and the aquatics club because the high school has the priority to use the pool during the day.
Paul Adams, city Parks and Recreation director, suggested the speakers should contact him and he would look into the issue and attempt to solve the problem.
The council concurred, and it asked Adams to report back with a solution.
Lastly, Councilmember Sharon Barovsky reminded the audience that she is still looking for a Parks and Recreations commissioner.