Big Malibu Civic Center projects acquiring environmental review

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The map above shows the remaining parcels of undeveloped commercial-zoned property in the Civic Center area

City officials say that the environmental review processes for several major developments in the Civic Center are nearing completion.

Organizers of the 38,000-square-foot  “Whole Foods in the Park” supermarket plan at Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road are working on a traffic analysis report to submit to the city, said Senior Planner Bonnie Blue. The analysis should reflect the type of impact new commercial developments will have on traffic in the Civic Center to ensure that the Whole Foods project and other commercial developments submit consistent data, since so many projects are at similar stages of development.

“The public works department developed a methodology to prepare the traffic study,” Blue said.

A little further west, project developers for the proposed 275,000-square-foot Rancho Malibu Hotel at Malibu Canyon Road and PCH have also been asked to submit a traffic analysis.

Planning Director Joyce Parker-Bozylinski estimates that environmental impact reports for the Whole Foods and hotel development should be issued by year’s end. She also estimated issuing an EIR in December for the Crummer property, a proposed residential development site adjacent to Bluffs Park.

An EIR for Malibu Bay Company’s commercial Sycamore Village project, however, is not set to be issued anytime soon.

“They still have an incomplete application,” Parker-Bozylinski said.

The Malibu Bay Company is planning to build the Sycamore Village—several commercial buildings—on the old Ioki property, which is the current site of the annual Kiwanis Club Chili Cook-Off.

BeauRivage rebuild in the works

Owners of the old BeauRivage restaurant site submitted an application to the city’s Planning Department recently to begin restoring the restaurant to its condition before a fire tore through it earlier this year. A Malibu landmark, the BeauRivage suffered extensive damage in an early morning fire on June 11 that began in the restaurant’s attic.

Principal owners Glen Gerson, owner of Calamigos Ranch, and Bob Morris, owner of the Paradise Cove Cafe, purchased the site from Pepperdine University just days before the fire. If the rebuild is approved, Morris and Gerson eventually plan on opening a “mid-market family-style” restaurant.

Richard Calvin, the project manager for Gerson and Morris, estimated it would cost $1 million to restore the restaurant to its original condition.

At one point, the restaurant’s original owner, Daniel Forge, had planned on opening an onsite bed and breakfast, but Calvin said those plans are not a part of the restoration by the new ownership.

“That’ll probably never happen,” he said.

The application process is in the very early stages, according to Calvin and the city’s Planning Department. Associate Planner Richard Mollica said he is still conducting historical research to assure that the new owners are restoring the site to its exact original design.

“I want to make certain they’re doing what they’re telling us,” Mollica said. He plans on asking for updated plans if he finds deficiencies in the fire restoration application.

County applies for permit to renovate access road at Zuma Beach

In an attempt to improve access to Zuma Beach during the rainy season, county officials want to modify the portion of Zuma Creek that runs adjacent to the Zuma Beach access read off of Pacific Coast Highway.

“When it rains, that whole access way gets flooded out,” Associate Planner Joseph Smith said.

The Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors submitted an application to the city’s planning department last week for a coastal development permit to regrade Zuma Creek along the roadway that loops under PCH—the only public accessway for visitors to Zuma Beach.

The city has yet to make a decision on the application, but Smith foresees a number of obstacles in issuing the permit to the county.

“Since they want to modify the stream itself, there will be issues with the landscaping and native vegetation,” Smith said. “Vegetation is always a big concern.”

Smith said planners might look at alternatives such as abandoning the current loop road and constructing a more direct access road. But that could lead to more congestion off of PCH, he said.

He estimated a decision to be made to the application in three to five months. The permit application would also have to go before the Malibu Planning Commission for approval.