Larry Ellison’s restaurant to get Coastal hearing
At its meeting this week in San Luis Obispo, the California Coastal Commission will vote on a zoning change for the property containing the former Windsail restaurant owned by Oracle CEO Larry Ellison. Although a series of restaurants have been located at the site throughout the years, it is zoned for residential use. Coastal Commission staff has recommended in favor of the zoning change.
The Malibu Planning Commission last year approved coastal development permits for Ellison to build a 5,900-square-foot Japanese restaurant on the Windsail property and for a 7,100-square-foot eatery on the adjacent site of the former PierView restaurant. The PierView site does not need a zoning change, but major work has not begun on that property.
The zoning change request comes to the Coastal Commission in the form of a Local Coastal Program amendment. Although the change is a technicality, when the City Council last year voted 4-1 in favor of the change.
Then Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich cast the dissenting vote because Ellison was unwilling to donate $400,000 to the school district in exchange for the zoning amendment. Previous property owner Richard Weintraub had offered to donate the money, although his project had asked for more square footage than allowed by the municipal code. Ellison’s plan does not. Ellison did donate $125,000 to the Legacy Park project.
Also at the meeting, the Coastal Commission will hear an appeal of the approval for a 5,200-square-foot Malibu Colony home. The project was appealed by Pat Healy of Malibu Coalition for Slow Growth and is opposed by other environmentalists. They say the project is too close to the Malibu Lagoon and would harm nearby trees. Coastal Commission staff has recommended against the appeal, but with a requirement that the property owner make efforts to protect the trees.
Both items will be heard on Wednesday. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. It will be webcast live and archived at www.coastal.ca.gov.
Corral Fire suspects scheduled to be arraigned
Eric Matthew Ullman and Dean Allen Lavorante, the Culver City teens accused of being involved in the starting of the Nov. 24 Corral Fire, are scheduled to be arraigned in Van Nuys Superior Court Friday morning. Their arraignment has been postponed three times due to requests from their attorneys for more time to go through the evidence, which includes several hundred pages of interviews.
Ullman and Lavorante are charged with felony counts of recklessly causing a fire with great bodily injury and recklessly causing a fire to an inhabited structure. The District Attorney’s Office says the blaze was started “during and within an area of a state of emergency,” which would require a mandatory state prison sentence if the suspects were convicted.
City of Los Angeles residents Brian Alan Anderson, William Thomas Coppock and Brian David Franks are also suspects in the case and are facing the same charges as Ullman and Lavorante. The Los Angeles trio pleaded not guilty in December, and they are scheduled to be in court on Aug. 5 to set a date for a preliminary hearing.
Application deadline approaches for city committees
The city is accepting applications to join two separate advisory committees on a viewshed ordinance and the possible municipal purchase of a 9.8-acre property on the north side of Pacific Coast Highway off Heathercliff Road. The deadline to apply is this week on Wednesday at 5 p.m. Applications can be downloaded from the city’s Web site at www.ci.malibu.ca.us.
The City Council will make appointments to the 12-member committees at its meeting on Monday.
U.S. Supreme Court to hear sonar issue
The United States Supreme Court late last month agreed to hear the case regarding limitations on the Navy’s use of sonar off the Southern California coast to protect marine mammals. The nation’s high court will hear the case during its next term, which begins in October.
Environmentalists earned a major victory last August when U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper of Los Angeles issued an injunction restricting sonar use because the sounds could harm marine mammals, including five species of endangered whales. The Ninth U.S. Court of Appeals affirmed her ruling with some modifications this year.
The Bush Administration has declared that the restrictions interfere with Naval training and national security.
CineMalibu presents ‘Snow Buddies’
“Snow Buddies,” a family film about puppies venturing across Alaska, will be screened at Bluffs Park on Saturday as part of the outdoor film program, CineMalibu.
Prior to the screening, local actor Dominic Scott Kay, who stars in the movie, will take part in a question and answer session.
The movie will begin at 8:15 p.m. There is no admission charge. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs or blankets.
More information can be obtained by calling 310.317.1364.
-Jonathan Friedman