The councilmember says the current ordinance does not address Malibu’s varied topography. Other councilmembers say the city has other issues to deal with before it can deal with the ordinance.
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
In his final meeting as mayor, Ken Kearsley proposed at last week’s City Council quarterly meeting that sometime in the next four years, the council needs to do a major revamp of the city’s zoning ordinance.
Kearsley said the current ordinance is made for a “one-size-fits-all” city, which he said Malibu is not because of its varied topography. Kearsley said the code should include several overlay districts that would give different rules for portions of the city, depending on their location.
Andy Stern and Sharon Barovsky, the only other councilmembers at the meeting on April 21, expressed reservations about taking on such a large project when the city still has other major planning issues to deal with, including the Local Coastal Program crisis and the new water quality standards.
“I’ve been walking the streets, and I’m hearing that the frustration level with this zoning ordinance is monumental,” Kearsley said. “Not only from the architects, but the builders and the homeowners.”
Barovsky said she was willing to listen to what people had to say, but said she did not want to hear that they wanted an ordinance that would let them build bigger and taller homes.
“What I hear is that people don’t like the zoning ordinance because it doesn’t allow them to do what they want to do,” Barovsky said. “It’s not that they can’t interpret it.”
Stern said the undertaking would be costly, and would involve a number of community meetings. He said that is something the city could not currently commit to. Kearsley said this is why he is proposing a four-year window. City Manager Katie Lichtig said city staff would provide an estimate of how much it would cost at the May 24 council meeting.
Also at the meeting, the council heard about the massive undertaking regarding coastal development permits that will take place once the city has settled its differences with the California Coastal Commission over the LCP. Currently, the city is involved in litigation with the state about the adoption of a Malibu LCP. This has placed a freeze on the granting of coastal development permits in the area, putting on hold about 150 planning projects. Once the conflict is settled, the city will begin granting coastal permits, an undertaking, which, Environmental and Community Development Director Vic Peterson said, will put a great deal of stress on the department. He said the department would need to hire contract staff to give some relief.
The workload for the Planning Commission will also increase. Planning Manager Mike Teruya said all major projects needing coastal permits, about 40 to 50 percent, must go before the commission. The rest will only require department approval. This means about three to four projects would go before the commission at each meeting for about a 10-month period. Barovsky proposed the commission could meet once a week rather than every other week to speed up the process.
Proposed projects that come about after the LCP saga has concluded will go before the Planning Department and commission in a one-stop shop process for city and coastal permits.
Also at the meeting, a number of Malibu Road residents came to ask the council to do something about its trash pickup policy. They said the current system of three pickups a week combined with the fact that many of the residents live there only on the weekends creates a situation in which large bins are permanently in front of homes. City staff said it would approach the county, which is in charge of trash pickup, about how this can be improved, with input from the homeowners.
Lastly, the council got a first look at the proposed budget for the next fiscal year. It is almost identical to this year’s, although expenditures were increased for the Planning Department because of the expected added expense of coastal permitting. Also, expected revenue was increased because Vehicle License Fee payments from the state will increase. The council is expected to approve a budget in June.