The Malibu City Council voted Monday to consider spending up to $25,000 on a consultant to review scientific evidence for and against the controversial California State Parks-led plan to recontour the Malibu Lagoon.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
The political season has cast its shadow over the city council meetings, likely not to depart until after April 10 when the votes for the city council race are counted. The council agreed Monday to reexamine the city’s official stance in favor of the Malibu Lagoon restoration project. It voted to place an item on a future agenda to spend up to $25,000 on an outside agency to independently verify or disprove the scientific arguments of the project’s critics, who believe the $7 million restoration plan is unnecessary and poorly designed.
Aside from the two city councilmembers running for reelection, three of the announced candidates for city council spoke during public comment at the meeting on topics ranging from new taxes to a new skate park.
Councilmember John Sibert, who has borne the brunt of the criticism among the council from opponents of the project, made the proposal.
“There has been so much heat and so little light on the lagoon project,” Sibert said. “I think the city does need to take a position on this and take a well-considered position.”
The project, given the final okay by a state judge in October, seeks to improve the function of the Malibu Lagoon ecosystem by using bulldozers to recontour the lagoon slopes and channels, and remove non-native plants. Opponents say the science used to design the project is faulty and that the unhealthy lagoon will repair itself over time.
City Manager Jim Thorsen sent two letters to the California Coastal Commission in 2010 supporting the project. The council debated whether to put out its own official position on the issue in April, but ultimately decided to remain neutral.
Critics, including Malibu resident, surfer and city council candidate Andy Lyon on Monday night, have asked the council to make a public stance on the issue.
Sibert’s motion would have the city spend up to $25,000 to hire a reputable scientific organization to study the Environmental Impact Report on the project and compare it with competing scientific claims by project opponents such as Marcia Hanscom’s Wetlands Defense Fund. Sibert suggested hiring a non-local agency such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) “without a dog in this fight” to review the science.
While the city council is free to reverse its stance and oppose the project, it has no legal power to stop the project. The project is scheduled to start June 1.
The motion enjoyed unanimous support, although Councilmember Pamela Conley, who opposes the project, said it took too long.
“Everyone now nine months later has come back to this issue, magically,” Ulich said. “I hope it’s not too little too late.”
The council will bring back an agenda item at an upcoming meeting to hire an agency to review the scientific information.
Fire department developer fees
Former Malibu City Councilmember Missy Zeitsoff, who pulled nomination papers Tuesday for another run for the council, used an item updating the city’s developer fee to press for greater taxes to benefit firefighters.
The agenda item, which was approved by the council, updated the city’s developer fee for single-family residences. The fee helps fund local fire stations.
Zeitsoff said the 93 cents that the Consolidated Fire Protection District, which includes Malibu, charges new single-family construction was too low, and that the council should raise the fee on its own in order to ensure Malibu’s fire services will be well-funded. Zeitsoff said the fee should also be raised to benefit the sheriff’s department.
“With all the development that I can see with my eyes in malibu, they need more money,” Zeitsoff said. “And those new houses can afford to pay.”
Council actions
The City Council on Monday:
– Proclaimed Feb. 14, 2012 “Pass it Forward Day” in Malibu in honor of Emily Shane. Residents are challenged to each commit one act of kindness on that day.
– The council voted to display “E Pluribus Unum” (Out of Many, One) at City Hall. The council had at a previous meeting considered displaying “In God We Trust” but decided against it.
– Extended the operating hours of Trancas Canyon Park until sunset.
– Denied an appeal of a Coastal Development Permit granted by the Planning Commission for a house at 25360 Malibu Road that lies on an active landslide. The appellant, Andrew Gombiner, unsuccessfully argued the construction of the home would destabilize neighboring homes.
– The meeting adjourned in memory of Lyssa Byrd, Marie Smith and former planning commissioner and longtime Malibu resident Les Moss, who passed away on Christmas Day. “He served with distinction for several years and he really loved Malibu,” Councilmember Lou La Monte said of Moss. “And I just wanted to acknowledge that.”