In the April 26 issue of the Times you stated that “Liebig sparked the meeting’s first controversial tone by questioning what he claimed were inconsistencies between the (Civic Center) draft design guidelines and the General Plan that was adopted in 1995.”
The Times went on to incorrectly state that “… former City Council candidate John Wall echoed Liebig’s concerns over the legality of the draft design guidelines.”
I neither “echoed” nor expressed “concerns” of legality. I stated that it was my understanding that the city staff had indicated that the “guidelines” were only advisory to developers and did not have the force of law. I noted that they indicated a new road and intersection, and a maximum structural height of 32 feet.
The first of these would require a significant city expenditure, and the second, under present law, require a variance. I suggested that a developer might reasonably rely on these guidelines in developing his project, and that if the variance and road funding were not then provided by the city, the developer would appear to have a reasonable basis for collecting significant damages from the city.
I then asked Councilperson Jennings, as an attorney, if I was correct in this. He did not choose to answer the question directly, but stated that before the guidelines were adopted, they would be consistent with the IZO and the General Plan, even if this required a change to the IZO and General Plan. He did not comment on the funding for the roads and intersection, or on the various hearings and possibly required General Plan EIR.
The only opinion I expressed was in answer to Councilperson Jennings’ request that the audience tell him what they wanted to see in the guidelines. I suggested the following:
(1) an indication of the flood plain and the effect of development in the flood plain on properties outside its present boundary; (2) an indication of the Civic Center liquefaction zone and what type of special construction would be required to meet the safety requirements; (3) the location of the Malibu Coastal Fault and the limitations on construction near it; (4) the effect of disposal of waste water into the ground on the water table throughout the Civic Center area, and the effect of this on other properties; and (5) an allocation of square-footage by “uses” between the various Civic Center properties since the city’s reports imply that virtually all of the requirement for commercial and office space will be provided by a single project which is now in the “pipeline,” thus denying other property owners of those uses.
John Wall