April
• A long-awaited parking study was finally completed, inventorying every parking spot in Malibu. The report highlighted an obvious fact in Malibu that there are simply not enough parking places here for either residents or our 12 million annual visitors. Many of the parking spots on the land side of PCH are a hazard because of people running across the highway to get to the beach. There were two recent pedestrian deaths near El Matador Beach and the report recommended that 675 parking spots be eliminated because the were at very dangerous locations.
• A recent federal study by the US Geological Survey predicted that, by the year 2100, up to two thirds of the beaches in Southern California may lose their sand. They are predicting a sea level rise of one to two meters (three to six feet) and what we are seeing at Broad Beach, where a formerly wide beach has all but disappeared, may actually be the new norm.
• The city is struggling with parking and can’t seem to make up its mind. Two weeks after narrowly deciding to allow off-site valet parking lots for hotels, motels and B&Bs, newly elected mayor pro tem Rick Mullen switched his vote, sending the matter back to the planning commission.
• The vitriolic and nasty pushback from Malibu’s sanctuary city decision surprised observers, because even though most people in Malibu seemed to favor it, there was what appeared to be an onslaught of letters, emails and phone calls from all over the country, which ranged from those simply disagreeing with the decision to some who were racist and threatening.
• The Sierra Club apparently is on a crusade to block the U2 musician “The Edge” from building a five-unit single-family home development in the hills above Malibu on Sweetwater Mesa. After an almost 10-year battle, the Coastal Commission approved the project with modifications and the Sierra Club sued, but so far an LA judge has found against them.