Council also set to vote Monday on third draft of septic ordinance.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
At its meeting on Monday, the City Council will consider a proposal for the city to apply for a $1 million federal grant administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation for the Legacy Park Project.
The development of Legacy Park, including the storm water treatment element and the creation of the park, would cost $12 million, according to the city. Malibu has received a $2 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation and more than $400,000 in donations and pledges, according to the city. Also, the city received a $1 million grant from Los Angeles County.
In late 2005, when the city lost $8 million worth of grant money guaranteed by various state agencies for the purchase of the Chili Cook-Off site (Legacy Park) due to bureaucratic conflicts, city officials said those same state agencies would be back to give the grant money during the park development phase of the project. But City Manager Jim Thorsen said earlier this month there are no state grants available for which the city is qualified.
City Councilmember Sharon Barovsky wrote in a November 2005 column for The Malibu Times that granting agencies have “assured” the city they would designate the money to Malibu for the development phase of the Legacy Park project. She said this week she still believes the city would be getting the money, but state budget problems have delayed the process.
“Right now with state budget, with the crisis it is in, they’re kind of freezing everything,” Barovsky said. “It’s a matter of timing.”
A proposal to fund most of the project through the issuance of certificates of participation, which are similar to bonds, was supported this month by a City Council subcommittee composed of Barovsky and Andy Stern. The city would pay off the COPs, as much as $10 million worth, through rent money it would receive from Legacy Park tenants. The City Council could vote on that concept next month.
If the council ends up choosing the COP issuance option, it would not be able to sell the COPs until after the project has been approved by the council at a public hearing, which could take place this summer. If the city were to receive grants beforehand, it would reduce the amount of COPs it would need to issue.
According to a staff report included in the council agenda, city officials are making final edits to the draft environmental impact report for the Legacy Park Project. The document will be ready for public circulation “within the next two weeks.”
The proposal includes a two-foot deep pond on Legacy Park that would capture excess storm water runoff when the nearby Civic Center treatment facility is filled to capacity, preventing runoff into the Malibu watershed.
Also on Monday, the City Council will consider Mayor Pro Tem Pamela Conley Ulich’s request for the city planning staff to create a set of planning guidelines for the Civic Center area.
“There are many properties zoned for commercial use in the Civic Center area that have yet to be developed,” Conley Ulich wrote in a report included in the council agenda packet. “These properties may adversely affect the Civic Center area if the city does not have an overall plan to tie together all properties in a way that will protect and preserve Malibu’s unique character.”
An attempt to create an overall plan for the area was made in the 1990s. During an 18-month period, a city committee created the Civic Center Specific Plan. It was brought before the City Council in 1998, but no vote was taken. No attempt has been made since then to vote on the plan, although various people have talked about doing so, including Planning Commission Chair Regan Schaar, who was appointed by Conley Ulich.
The council will also vote on a third revision of a proposed ordinance requiring inspection of septic systems prior to the sale of properties as a method to create a city database on septic systems in Malibu. The proposal has been a controversial one, with several local Realtors saying past versions have been too complicated. But Malibu Association of Realtors President Paul Spiegel said this week the latest version is satisfactory, with a little tweaking needing to be done. He said the city staff and the association are working on that this week.