Committee recommends not buying property.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
The proposed municipal purchase of a 9.8-acre Point Dume property will be debated at Monday’s City Council meeting. A committee met three times earlier this year to discuss possible uses for the property and whether the site should be purchased at all. Council members will review the committee’s findings, and make recommendations to city staff.
Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich approached owner Kristi Dewind about whether she would be willing to sell the property earlier this year, and was told an interest exists. The mayor has been the biggest supporter on the council for the purchase, saying it could be used for various city purposes, including a teen and senior center, City Hall or library, among other possibilities.
Other council members have been less enthusiastic, including Mayor Pro Tem Andy Stern, who has several times publicly denounced the idea. His main reason for being opposed to the purchase is that the property is in a residential area and zoned residential. If the city were to buy the site, a California Coastal Commission-approved zoning change would be needed.
The site is vacant, but contains a private nursery. It is listed at a $4.9 million asking price with Realtor Chris Frost.
Members of the recommendation committee had been asked to rank their top five potential uses of the property. Nine of the 12 members submitted answers, and “Do not purchase” received six votes as the number one choice.
Also receiving votes as a top choice were open space, playing fields and community room/center. A teen center received three votes as a second choice. A City Hall received no votes in any member’s top five.
Also at the meeting, the council is expected to approve the issuance of up to $5 million worth of bonds to fund the undergrounding of power, cable and telephone lines as well as other utility materials at Carbon Beach. The action was already approved in a vote by local homeowners, and they will pay off the bonds as part of a special assessment district.
Last year, then-Councilmember Conley Ulich stormed from the council chambers in anger after the council approved the Carbon Beach vote. She said some residents would not be able to afford the cost to pay off the bonds, and suggested the election had been unfair. Despite the 21 to 8 vote in favor of the bonds being issued and the residents having to pay up to $10,000 per year for the next 30 years to pay off the bonds, not all the property owners were eligible to vote. Only those who were registered in Malibu could vote, and those who have homes in other cities were not necessarily registered in Malibu.
“This, I think, is a real travesty of justice,” Conley Ulich said at the meeting prior to leaving the room. “And I think we’ve disenfranchised a lot of people. And I don’t think it’s fair at all.”
Other council members agreed with Conley Ulich that the election was unfair, but they followed the word of a bond attorney hired by the city who said there was nothing the council could do because it was only supposed to certify the election. And unless the council members believed fraud had been committed, the attorney said, they had to approve the results.
Also at the meeting, the council will vote on signing billionaire businessman T. Boone Pickens’ “Energy Independence Pledge,” which urges the U.S. Congress and President-elect Barack Obama to come up with a plan within the first 100 days of Obama’s presidency that will reduce foreign oil dependence by at least 30 percent within 10 years. Conley Ulich had placed the item on the agenda.