More business owners are voicing their discontent with the foam ban, which would raise costs, they say. City Council discusses Wave property-a possible site for wastewater facility.
By Jonathan Friedman/Assistant Editor
Although Mayor Sharon Barovsky announced at the beginning of Monday night’s City Council meeting that the council would address next month whether to alter the recent citywide ban of plastic foam and lids, local restaurant leaders still took the opportunity to voice their opposition to the ordinance during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Last month, the council approved a law to go into effect on July 1 that bans restaurants from using products made of polystyrene, including plastic foam food and drink containers and coffee cup lids. Last week, Barovsky told The Malibu Times that a small error may have been made with the passage of the ordinance. Local business leaders also told the newspaper of the hardships the ban would create, with some saying they were not aware the council was considering creating the law. This was despite the council having debated the issue in two meetings prior to the one in which it passed the ordinance and The Malibu Times having published extensive articles after each of those meetings on the ordinance as well as a smaller one prior to the third meeting.
Diana Nielsen, owner of Malibu Yogurt and Ice Cream, told the council on Monday that to serve her product in paper cups rather than plastic foam containers would increase her annual cost from $11,000 to $33,000. She also said, although ice cream could be served in a paper cup, soft-serve yogurt in such a container would be less than ideal.
“The insulated cups allow my customers to enjoy the yogurt comfortably,” Nielsen said.
Nielsen said she believed most of the plastic foam pollution on the beach is caused by people throwing the containers into garbage cans, but, because the cans are not covered, the garbage does not remain there.
She encouraged the city to change the ordinance so that it only prohibits polystyrene products on city facilities and at city-sponsored events. Councilmember Jeff Jennings, who voted against the ordinance, had proposed that idea as well.
Les Wiggins, owner of the local Kentucky Fried Chicken, said he believed the council should concentrate on enforcing its litter laws. He recommended more signs around the city that remind people of them. Wiggins said this was a better alternative to solving the pollution problem than the recently passed ordinance, which he said was “more than a financial hardship, it’s an economic suicide.”
The council members were restricted by state law from discussing the issue because it was not on Monday’s agenda. But Barovsky said in a Tuesday interview that the issue would most likely be discussed at the council’s April 27 quarterly meeting. She said at that time, it can be decided how a law could be created that would ban certain plastic foam products, but not items such as coffee lids.
Land deal with Pepperdine?
Not discussed during the public portion of Monday’s meeting, but on the agenda for the closed session, was a negotiation of price and terms of city payment for the Wave property, a 9.2-acre parcel located behind the old City hall on Cross Creek Road that is owned by a partnership dominated by Pepperdine University. Earlier this month, a preliminary report by Questa Engineering named the property the best location in the Civic Center area for a wastewater/stormwater treatment facility. After the report became public, Barovsky told The Malibu Times she hoped Pepperdine would be a “good neighbor and negotiate in good faith” so the city could acquire the property.
A letter was sent from Pepperdine to Malibu Coastal Land Conservancy member Ozzie Silna last fall stating it would “entertain offers to sell” the Wave property “in the $11 million range.” Silna’s intention had been to persuade Pepperdine to sell the property to the city. It is not clear whether that letter still has any validity, or if negotiations between the city and Pepperdine are starting from scratch. City and Pepperdine officials declined to comment.
Green Machine roars on
Mayor Pro Tem Andy Stern announced at Monday’s meeting that The Malibu Green Machine, a group of residents who want to beautify the city, had obtained an agreement with the Los County Department of Beaches and Harbors to conduct a project geared at revitalizing the islands in the Zuma Beach parking lot with new vegetation. In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Stern said The Green Machine is still devising a plant list and deciding which plants it will put where. The Green Machine will conduct a public meeting on April 26 in the Zuma Beach parking lot.
The mysterious failing
Paradise Cove
Former City Council candidate John Mazza spoke during the open comment portion of the meeting about the mystery behind why Paradise Cove Beach has received failing marks from the weekly Heal the Bay Report Card on water quality nearly 85 percent of the time since September. “This is an intolerable situation,” Mazza said. “It’s something…that’s going into the ocean. And the city has the ability to find out why. And the city has the authority to fix it.”
City Manager Katie Lichtig said city staff has been instructed to look into the matter.
Kevin Connelly contributed to this article.