One less barrier now stands in the way between U2 guitarist David “The Edge” Evans and the five single-family homes he’s spent more than a decade fighting to build on Malibu’s Sweetwater Mesa: An LA judge on Friday rejected a lawsuit bent on stalling the project.
In January of last year, the Sierra Club filed a suit against the California Coastal Commission (CCC) over its approval of the development, known locally as “The Edge Project,” demanding more environmental studies be completed before the project can break ground — in compliance with the oft-cited CEQA, California Environmental Quality Act. Over 15 months, the project has been on pause as the petition wound its way through court.
Last week, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James Chalfant ruled the commission’s previous studies and lengthy staff report were the “functional equivalent” of undertaking a full environmental impact review under CEQA, in effect greenlighting the project.
The commission’s December 2015 approval of the project made headlines but the development plans soon stalled out following filing of the Sierra Club’s petition — news that was quickly overshadowed by the dramatic firing of Coastal Commission Director Charles Lester and shakeup of the agency.
The proposed homes, which range in square footage from 7,812 sq. ft. to 9,572 sq. ft., have undergone various changes in order to make them fit narrow stipulations mandated by the CCC.
The project includes an open space easement of 137 acres granted to the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority. Originally, Evans requested the houses take up 9.2 acres of the bluff; that was later condensed to 4.3 acres. The total site is 151 acres.
Many of these changes came about in 2011 after the Coastal Commission originally rejected the project’s 2010 application.
Local and regional outcry against the project has gone on for as long as the proposal has been in the works, with commission meetings well attended by those in opposition, despite the fact the December 2015 approval took place in Monterey, 310 driving miles from Sweetwater Mesa in the Santa Monica Mountains
Even current Coastal Commission Director Jack Ainsworth — at the time Coastal Commission Deputy Director — admitted the proposal is in violation of the Coastal Act.
“That whole area up there is considered to be environmentally sensitive habitat area, so under the Coastal Act, technically it would not be consistent with the policies to protect sensitive areas,” Ainsworth said in 2014. However, the CCC was compelled to allow some kind of development on the parcels due to their zoning.
“The proposed structures are sited and designed in a clustered configuration to minimize visual impacts,” read the Dec. 10, 2015 staff report on the project.
Although Evans was not a party to the lawsuit, headlines following Chalfant’s decision declared him the victor, and in many ways he is — barring another petition against the project, the only thing standing between him and his dream homes are the miles of red tape any home builder in Malibu knows all too well.