Malibu Road residents who have planted illegal vegetation encroaching on state park property will no longer have to remove it. All future planting must be native.
By Steven Genson/Special to The Malibu Times
The Malibu Road Association and the California Department of Parks and Recreation have reached a compromise on possible illegal planting and landscaping on Malibu Bluffs Park property that runs along the north side of the street. State Parks has agreed to not force homeowners to remove the non-negative vegetation planted before Aug. 1, while any future planting must be native.
About 30 to 40 Malibu Road homes are adjacent to park property. Earlier this year, residents living in those homes began receiving letters from State Parks concerning possible illegal planting and landscaping on Malibu Bluffs Park property. The State Parks’ ecologist for Malibu, Suzanne Goode, brought to light that a large number of the planted vegetation was what she called ornamental, consisting of non-native plant life such as cacti arrangements, floral plants and palm trees. Goode said that State Parks policies prohibit any development of non-native vegetation on park property.
“Most land is in its natural state, and that is its use,” Goode said.
State Parks originally requested that all property owners encroaching upon state park property remove, at their expense, all planted items prior to Aug. 1. Malibu Road Association President Bill Rhodes was later able to get State Parks to agree to the compromise.
Rhodes, who said he “was absolutely thrilled” by the compromise, suggested State Parks has taken a “wait and see” position. Rhodes said that if residents can prove they can abide by this agreement, then both sides will benefit and can continue an amicable relationship.
State Parks is allowing Malibu Road residents to act as the watchdogs for any future planting on state park property. Rhodes said, “If we don’t self-police, then they [State Parks] might come and remove it.” Regarding possible future illegal encroachments, Rhodes said, “We will play it by ear and see if we can get it under control. If someone messes up, then they might ruin it for everyone.”
Several residents have invested time and money toward planting and landscaping projects, some of them disregarding park boundaries, before State Parks made any preventative efforts. Goode noted State Parks took a while to take action on this, but she said the problem had not reached the point of spiraling out of control.
“It has been on the backburner for a while…we’re trying to deal with these things so they don’t accumulate in the future,” Goode said.
Additionally, State Parks said many homeowners who are in violation were not actually the culprits of illegal planting. Previous owners of the homes are often responsible for planting on the park property. As a result, Goode said she was not surprised when State Parks encountered resistant residents who were reluctant to remove vegetation they had not planted. Rhodes added that a portion of the planting occurred more than 25 years ago, which was before the land was state park property.
State Parks is neutral about residents planting native vegetation, which includes flora from the Coastal Sage Scrub family. Some members are black and purple sage, laurel sumac, sagebrush, California buckwheat and the coastal sunflower. Goode said she would like residents to “look to the beauty of native plants” when considering developing their land. Goode said she is also concerned about the environmental effects of non-native planting on the natural habitat. She said that State Parks does not plant anything without an environmental review, which she doubts that all residents are performing.