Santa Monica council member named to Coastal Commission
Ten-year Santa Monica City Council veteran Richard Bloom was appointed to the California Coastal Commission on Tuesday. California Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg made the appointment to fill the vacancy. Bloom begins his term (which expires in May 2013) at this week’s meeting in San Francisco.
Bloom said in an interview on Tuesday that although he is aware of Coastal Commission issues, he has not followed them closely, and has a learning curve ahead of him. “We don’t have that many Coastal Commission issues that have affected the city of Santa Monica,” Bloom said. “We’ve had a few. But it certainly has not been front and center for me as many other things have.”
Bloom was one of three candidates selected by an ad-hoc committee to be representative of the South Coast District on the Coastal Commission. The others were Santa Monica Mayor Pro Tem Pam O’Connor and Long Beach Councilwoman Gerrie Schipske.
Bloom was elected to the Santa Monica City Council in a special election in 1999 and has been reelected three times. He also serves as chair of the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, a position he says will be useful as background for his new post.
The new commissioner said he “wants to try to apply the philosophies and lessens I’ve learned” from the City of Santa Monica’s “very positive approach to sustainability issues” to the state panel.
“I have an abiding interest in the broad range of sustainability issues as we’ve come to know them here in Santa Monica,” Bloom said. “I have a specific interest in ocean and coastal and watershed issues that have grown with my time on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission.”
Council to vote on development permit, Malibu Canyon project
The city council at its Dec. 14 meeting will vote on whether to approve a coastal development permit and various zoning amendments for a proposed project located at 30732 Pacific Coast Highway, which is being continued from the Nov. 23 council meeting.
The project consists of three components: a development standard for beach front lot width to conform to the certified Local Coastal Program and Local Implementation Plan; development standards for the proposed four-lot subdivision to conform to the certified LCP; and the four-lot subdivision in conformance with the certified LCP. No physical development is proposed at this time and subsequent development of each lot will require a CDP from the city.
A staff report states approval of these legislative changes will ensure consistency between the city’s land use regulatory documents, as required by state law, and allow the coastal development permit for the tentative parcel map to be approved as requested.
The council will also decide whether to approve a reconstruction contract for Malibu Canyon Road improvements. The project consists of resurfacing Malibu Canyon Road from Pacific Coast Highway to the city limits with an asphalt-rubber overlay. This project will improve the quality of the roadway and reduce road maintenance, a staff report states.
Funding for the construction of the project is included in the 2009-2010 fiscal year budget. The total estimated cost for this project is $500,000. Actual costs will be reimbursed by the State of California, Department of Transportation through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 upon completion of this project.
The entire meeting agenda can be viewed online at www.ci.malibu.ca.us.
Car flies 300 feet down Malibu Canyon
Rain on Monday caused a rough commute across the Southland, as the California Highway Patrol said there were 132 incident reports between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., three times the number reported just a week ago, according to a report by KABC.
A vehicle flew 300 feet down the side of Malibu Canyon Road, approximately two miles north of Pacific Coast Highway, at about 7:20 a.m. Monday. Firefighters responded to the accident and called for air rescue. The car flipped several times as it went down the cliff, but the driver suffered only minor injuries, the report stated.
Malibu Canyon Road was shut down during the rescue effort. The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Wildfire protection meetings to resume in January
The initial round of 12 meetings between community residents and agencies to craft site-specific wildfire protection plans for their fire-prone neighborhoods finished Nov. 10.
Each assembly since the initial session on Oct. 20 concentrated on a sector small enough in area to allow mapping and brainstorming exercises to deal with particular geography, vegetation cover, and neighborhood concerns in that region. A large forum to review all the maps created to date will be held Jan. 9.
“We’re holding this meeting to bring in those residents who were unable to attend their neighborhood meeting in the first round. We’ll review what was identified in those meetings and provide people an opportunity to add to that information,” Tracy Katelman, CWPP Project Director, said in a press release. The Jan. 9 forum will be held from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Juan Cabrillo Elementary School, located at 30237 Morning View Drive.
The second series of community input meetings will be held from Jan. 6-14. These meetings will be for the beach communities, Corral Canyon, Liberty Canyon/Lost Hills, the Calabasas interface, and Hidden Valley/Lake Sherwood.
In addition, residents can now access an online mapping exercise similar to the exercises offered at the community forums. More information about the January meetings and the mapping exercise can be accessed online at http://forevergreenforestry.com/SMMCWPP_Maps.html.
-Olivia Damavandi and Jonathan Friedman