Water board to consider $1.65 million fines on Paradise Cove
The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board will conduct a public hearing this Friday to discuss the $1.65 million fine it issued in February to the Kissel Company, owner of the Paradise Cove Mobilehome Park, for allowing, among other things, raw sewage spills into a local creek and the ocean.
The water board will increase, decrease or dismiss the fines, depending on the testimonies and evidence collected during the public hearing.
The RWQCB in February issued a complaint that states the Kissel Company, headed by President Steven Dahlberg, failed to properly manage wastewater from its 72-acre property of 257 mobile homes, all of which are located within 1,500 feet of the ocean. The board also states that Kissel Company allowed 17 raw sewage spills into Ramirez Creek and the ocean between April 2007 and July 2008, disregarded regional water board orders to construct and operate an effective wastewater treatment plant according to prescribed schedules, and failed to submit groundwater-monitoring reports.
City’s special projects engineer accepts job offer
Granville “Bow” Bowman next week will leave his three-year position as the City of Malibu’s special projects engineer, and as president of the Malibu Rotary Club. He has accepted the position of public works director for San Bernardino County.
Prior to becoming special projects engineer, Bowman served as Malibu’s interim public works director from November 2005 to June 2006 before the city hired Bob Brager to fill the position. Bowman’s position as Rotary Club president will be assumed by Holmes Osborne III. “I came here [to work for the City of Malibu] for six weeks and have been here ever since,” Bowman said Monday in a telephone interview. “I’m moving onto a bigger opportunity as director of public works for San Bernardino County. We’ve got a great director of public works in the meantime, Bob Brager.
“I can say what I came here for has been completed,” Bowman added.
City projects Bowman has helped complete include the construction of the Solstice Creek Bridge; the first construction phase of Las Flores Creek Park; the Paradise Cove treatment facility (whose funding has not yet been provided by the state); the street improvements at Cross Creek Road, Broad Beach Road, Pacific Coast Highway and Winter Canyon Road; and the traffic signal at Corral Canyon, among other projects.
Council, Planning Commission to hold joint meeting on green project
The Malibu City Council and Planning Commission will hold a joint meeting at 2 p.m. in the city hall council chambers to discuss the development of a green building ordinance and to review sustainable development program options. The council and commission will also discuss options to reduce outdoor water use and ways to improve low impact development.
The joint meeting will feature city presentations by city staff and Global Green, the city’s green building consultant, on concepts for green building, water conservation landscaping and low impact development.
More information can be obtained by calling 310.456.2489.
Second farmer’s market application submitted
The Planning Commission last week received a second application from John Edwards of Raw Inspiration requesting a conditional use permit to manage and operate a farmers’ market on property owned by the County of Los Angeles at 23525 Civic Center Way.
The first application with the same request, submitted by Debra Bianco and Remy O’Neill of the Cornucopia Foundation in March, will be voted on by the Planning Commission at a public hearing at city hall on June 16. The commission has not yet scheduled a public hearing for the application submitted by Edwards.
Cornucopia’s application calls for the farmers’ market to take place every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. except when special events, such as the Lion Club’s flea market or the Chamber of Commerce’s summer art show, utilize the property.
One issue of confusion in the permitting process was whether Cornucopia needed permission from the County of Los Angeles to apply for a conditional use permit because it owns the Civic Center property, where the library and courthouse are located, on which the proposed farmers’ market would take place.
Ha Ly, an associate planner for the city, said last April in a telephone interview that permission from the county is needed, but can be obtained before or after the application is submitted to the city.
Planning Commission to decide on second pot shop
The Planning Commission at its meeting Tuesday, before this paper went to print, was set to vote on whether to issue a permit to allow a second marijuana dispensary to operate in Malibu.
In addition to a conditional use permit, Green Angel Collective, a medical marijuana dispensary, submitted an application to the city requesting a variance to operate within 1,000 feet of a park. Its proposed location, 21355 Pacific Coast Highway, is within that distance from Las Flores Park.
Before the city council approved the first dispensary, PCH Collective, several months ago, it passed an ordinance allowing medical marijuana dispensaries to operate on all commercially zoned sites under conditional use permits.
After controversy over how many dispensaries should be allowed to operate within city limits, the council settled on a maximum of three. Additionally, the city implemented regulations on distances from certain locations such as parks, schools and places of worship.
Coverage of the June 2 meeting will be featured in next week’s newspaper.
City to collect rental home tax
The City of Malibu on July 1 will begin collection of transient occupancy taxes on the short-term rental (30 days or less) of private homes, apartments, condominiums or vacation properties to deal with a $ 1.2 million budget shortfall for the last fiscal year, and to help balance the current fiscal year’s budget.
The tax amounts to 12 percent of the rental price of so-called vacation homes, and would add an estimated $200,000 to the city’s budget. (A property owner will have to pay $120 per $1,000 in rent charged.)
The tax will require property owners of the short-term rentals to register with the city, obtain a transient occupancy registration certificate and pay a one-time $25 registration fee per property.
The Malibu Municipal Code allows for such a tax, but the city has thus far only enforced it on hotels and motels, Administrative Services Director Reva Feldman said last month.
To ascertain whether a resident’s house is being used as a vacation rental, Feldman last month said the city will “work through real estate companies” and monitor Internet sites where people list their homes.
As stated in the Malibu Municipal Code, consequences for transient occupancy tax violations range from a penalty of 10 p ercent of the amount of the tax and a penalty of 25 percent of the amount of tax, to a $1,000 fine and six months imprisonment in the county jail.
-Olivia Damavandi