After two years of permitting limbo, the council voted unanimously to begin issuing coastal development permits within 30 days, despite denial of its request that the Coastal Commission guarantee the permits will remain valid regardless of the outcome of ongoing litigation.
By Susan Reines/Special to The Malibu Times
The City Council voted unanimously Monday to begin issuing coastal development permits even though the California Coastal Commission refused to guarantee the long-term validity of the permits.
More than 100 construction projects that have been stalled since fall 2002 will be able to get the permits they have been waiting for in 30 days, when the law goes into effect.
However, the long-term validity of those permits will not be assured. Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas said in a letter to Mayor Sharon Barovsky earlier this month that the commission was unwilling to strike an agreement that permits issued now would remain valid regardless of the outcome of the city’s lawsuit against the commission.
Douglas wrote in his Oct. 14 letter that Barovsky’s request to set up a stipulation between the city and commission was “entirely inadequate to solve the problem.” He said such an agreement would open the door to legal questions and litigation from residents not bound by the agreement.
“It’s unfortunate that the commission didn’t respond positively,” Council Member Jeff Jennings said Monday before the council’s unanimous vote to issue permits. “Or, should I say, it’s unfortunate that Mr. Douglas didn’t respond positively. But I didn’t have much expectation that he would.”
Private planning consultant Norm Haynie said he attended the Coastal Commission meeting in San Diego last week when Barovsky’s request was addressed.
“I got the feeling that none of the commissioners were familiar with the city’s request,” Haynie said. He said the attitude seemed to be, “They sued us, we didn’t sue them, and I don’t think we should make an effort to help them out.”
“And that was it,” he said. “There was no vote.”
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich expressed frustration that the commission hadn’t taken a vote. She read Douglas’ phone number aloud and urged the public to call him and ask why he hadn’t asked the commission to vote.
“It’s not right that he thinks he is more powerful than the commission,” she said.
City Manager Katie Lichtig said the city had been pre-processing permits since May, readying itself to begin issuing permits when the law takes effect in a month.
“We’re moving,” she said. “We’re not sitting back and waiting for this to figure itself out.”
Development has been stalled in Malibu for two years, since the Coastal Commission drafted a Local Coastal Program for the city. Residents rejected the document and collected more than 2,400 signatures to subject the LCP to a citywide referendum, but the Los Angeles Superior Court and Court of Appeal have said Malibu voters do not have the authority to decide whether to accept a state agency-written document. The city recently decided to continue pressing its case to the California Supreme Court.
The new permits will be issued in accordance with the commission-drafted LCP.
Trancas Park plan approved; Council salaries raised
In other news, the council unanimously approved a plan for a 13-acre Trancas Park near Malibu West.
Several residents, including Parks and Recreation Commission Chair Doug O’Brien, urged the council to approve the park. Parks and Recreation Commissioner Madonna Slattery, however, said she believed the more than $2 million estimated to construct the park was too expensive in light of neighbors’ request that the park’s fields be used only for practices, not games.
The council voted to go ahead with the park but did not decide whether the fields would be used for games or practices.
The council voted 3-0 to support Proposition 71, the state ballot measure that would sell $3 billion of state bonds for stem cell research. Councilmembers Ken Kearsley and Jeff Jennings abstained, saying it was not the council’s place to support or oppose the state measure.
In other action, the council voted 3-1 in favor of raising council members’ salaries, beginning in 2006, to reflect cost of living increases, a move meant to encourage more people to run for council. Stern dissented and Conley Ulich abstained, saying she wanted the voters to decide. A motion to ask voters whether council members should get benefits failed.
The council agreed that Conley Ulich and Jennings would meet with organizers of a possible Malibu marathon to discuss whether the city would benefit from closing part of Pacific Coast Highway to accommodate the race.
The council also unanimously denied a homeowner’s request that the city vacate part of its Broad Beach Road easement, saying it had found no public benefit to vacating the land.
An appeal of a Planning Commission decision and a decision on a new animal licensing ordinance were continued to November 8.