The following letter, dated May 20, 2002, to Mayor Jeff Jennings and Chair Sara Wan of the California Coastal Commission was submitted by Ozzie Silna.
We are writing to re-affirm the fact that it was the California Legislature that passed AB 988 (Hertzberg-Burton) directing the California Coastal Commission to implement its provisions in a manner that protects coastal values and fully complies with the Coastal Act-Division 20 (commencing with Section 30000) of the Public Resources Code. Our intent in this legislation was to enable the City of Malibu to assume local control of coastal development as expeditiously as possible.
Prior to the enactment of AB 988, there had been a decade of delay in the adoption of the City of Malibu’s Local Coastal Plan (LCP) and the resultant pressure often placed on the Legislature and the Commission to step in and act as arbiter for local land use disputes arising in the city. Once there is an adopted LCP, these issues will reside with the City Council, where they appropriately should be.
AB 988 directs to the Commission, on or before September 15, 2002, to adopt a Local Coastal Plan for the City of Malibu, in order for the city to assume local development permitting authority pursuant to the Act. AB 988 represents the quickest, most certain way to remove discretionary review authority from the Coastal Commission and provide local control for the citizens of Malibu.
In our view, it is time for an LCP to be adopted and enforced in the City of Malibu. We strongly urge the Coastal Commission to proceed with all due speed in implementing AB 988.
John L. Burton, president pro tempore
California State Senate
Robert Hertzberg, speaker emeritus California State Assembly