The property owners association has not complied with the order. A meeting is expected to take place with representatives in attendance from the property owners association, the city, the Coastal Commission and State Parks.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
After further review, the city of Malibu has decided the California Coastal Commission has the authority to decide whether the Serra Canyon Property Owners Association can install swing-arm gates at the entrance of Serra Retreat on Serra Road off Pacific Coast Highway.
Malibu Environmental and Community Development Director Vic Peterson sent a letter to Serra Canyon on Aug. 30 informing the association that, at the request of the Coastal Commission staff, the city was rescinding a coastal development permit exemption it had granted for the gates. Peterson requested that the gates be removed. As of Tuesday, Serra Canyon had not complied with the request.
Serra Canyon Treasurer Ozzie Silna said on Tuesday that a meeting would take place before the end of the week to discuss the controversy with representatives from Serra Canyon, the city, Coastal Commission staff and the California Department of Parks and Recreation in attendance. Serra Canyon Vice President Bill Carson declined to go into great detail regarding the matter, but said he expects the situation to be resolved within the next month.
Peterson wrote in the letter that the city had made its decision to hand over the matter to the Coastal Commission because of a letter it received from the state agency saying it had received an application from Serra Canyon to add gates to the gatehouse prior to the city taking any action. It also stated that the Coastal Commission was retaining jurisdiction on all coastal permitting matters involving the gatehouse. When asked for comment on Tuesday, Peterson said it was his policy not to comment on open code enforcement issues.
Peterson did further note in the letter that the Coastal Commission had referred to a “gatehouse” in all previous correspondence with the city regarding the matter, but in the most recent correspondence had called it a guardhouse. N. Patrick Veesart, the California Coastal Commission enforcement officer dealing with the project was not at his office this week to comment on the change in diction.
The three swing-arm gates in question were constructed in June after Serra Canyon received a coastal exemption from the city based on a clause in the Malibu Local Costal Program that allows exemptions for “improvements to any structure other than a single-family residence or a public works facility.” Veesart issued a notice in August to Serra Canyon demanding the gates be removed because they were not exempt, he wrote, since the gates were not directly attached to the gatehouse. Also, he wrote that the gates interfered with a public access route that begins along Serra Road and is owned by State Parks. Serra Canyon had agreed not to disturb that public access way in a 2003 litigation settlement that gave it an after-the-fact coastal permit for the gatehouse.
Veesart wrote in the August notice to Serra Canyon, which was issued before the Coastal Commission staff sent the letter to the city, that Serra Canyon must get permission for the gates from the Coastal Commission as an amendment to the coastal permit it received for the gatehouse. Serra Canyon had applied for that amendment, and a hearing was scheduled for the June Coastal Commission meeting with a staff recommendation of rejection. But Serra Canyon withdrew its application before the meeting because it received the coastal exemption from the city.