The city of Malibu won a major legal battle against the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy last week when it persuaded Kent Killegrew, a Superior Court judge sitting in Ventura, to issue a preliminary injunction against the conservancy. The victory, however, may be only a short-term one.
The injunction, which covers the activities at the estate at the back of Ramirez Canyon, formerly known as the Streisand Center, says the conservancy is “enjoined from making commercial use of the subject property, including but not limited to garden tours, business retreats, workshops and meetings, weddings and bar mitzvahs.” Killegrew said the conservancy could continue to operate its administrative headquarters on the property but reasoned the commercial money-raising activities at the site have changed the intensity of the use in the canyon and therefore require a coastal permit.
The SMMC currently has an application pending before the California Coastal Commission to expand its usage of the property significantly as a major commercial venue, which will be heard at the commission’s Long Beach meeting within the next two weeks. If the Coastal Commission issues a permit, it will negate the court decision and make it moot.