The much-maligned California Coastal commissioners, including Chair Sara Wan and Executive Director Peter Douglas, took a bus tour of Malibu last week to get a first-hand look at the city and its habitat, including the controversial Bluffs Park and its ball fields.
Even though the California Coastal Commission (CCC) has already drafted a proposed Local Coastal Plan (LCP) for Malibu, this is the first time some of the commissioners have stepped foot in the City of Malibu.
After first driving through the Santa Monica Mountains, the commissioners began their tour of Malibu at Bluffs Park where they were greeted by a handful of sign-waving protestors. The protestors’ signs read, “Stop Development in Malibu” and “Save our ESHAs.” However, when the commissioners stepped off the bus, the protesters greeted them in a friendly manner, most shaking hands with the commissioners, and smiling.
Although the Malibu LCP covers a wide variety of topics the main issue of discussion was the ball fields at Bluffs Park.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation owns most of the land at the bluffs and has been leasing the land to the city for two public baseball diamonds and a soccer field. The small Michael Landon community center also sits in the park. The state now wants the land back to use for visitor-serving purposes, which might leave the city without playing fields for children’s sports. The city has been looking at other options for fields; it has been working on a deal with Crummer Trust in which the trust would be able to develop certain lots it owns and donate other acreage for sports. Two deals, called “Crummer 1” and “Crummer 2,” are being looked at and have been sent out for environmental impact reports.
At a tour stop, Russ Guiney, the Los Angeles District State Parks superintendent, gave a brief presentation concerning the California Department of Parks position on the issue.
“The City of Malibu does not have enough recreation fields,” Guiney said, “[but] Bluffs Park is only temporary use. It needs to move off state land.”
He described the long-term vision that State Parks has for Bluffs Park with a visitor orientation center, like Yellowstone National Park or Yosemite National Park, where there are five visitor centers, each at its main entrances.
“We think that this could be a center [of the Santa Monica Mountains Recreation Area] that would serve this entire national park, and would serve the city and the community by helping people find where things are in this town.”
As far as what the city would do for fields, Guiney said State Parks favors the swap envisioned in the Crummer 2 deal.
Gary Timm, associate director of the Coastal Commission, CCC, also favored the Crummer deal.
“This plan proposed by Crummer [Trust], the staff has accepted and is incorporating into its recommendation as a solution.”