Chuck Damm, deputy director of the Coastal Commission, claims in his recent letter that rosebushes, lawn grass and other “non-native” species can be planted in the 10,000 square foot development envelope adjacent to a home. Let’s read the LCP and see what it says:
3.25 – “New development, including, but not limited to, vegetation removal, vegetation thinning, or planting of non-native or invasive vegetation shall not be permitted in required ESHA or park buffer areas, (100 feet from ESHA sic.) except that habitat restoration and invasive plant eradication may be permitted if designed to protect and enhance habitat values.”
Now, LCP advocates will just say “That’s only in ESHA.” Not true. You will be prevented from planting rose bushes (or lawn, ornamentals etc.) all the way to your front door if there any “sensitive resource” conditions, like a sycamore near your yard, or if you are within 100 feet of “sensitive habitat area” or your home can be seen from PCH, Kanan Dume or Decker, Encinal, Latigo, Corral, Tuna or Malibu Roads, as the following policies apply (the Coastal Commission staff likes to give the impression that we have the use of 10,000 square feet to reduce potential opposition to the Plan. But if you read the document, it intentionally provides no such rights):
3.12 and 6.5 – ” The maximum allowable development area (including the building pad and all graded slopes, if any, as well as any permitted structure) for residential development shall be limited to 10,000 sq. ft. or 25 percent of the parcel size, whichever is less…. The maximum development area shall be further restricted if necessary to protect visual or other sensitive resources.”
Mr. Damm also claims that the LCP allows all of us to have a home and accessory structures such as a guesthouse. The LCP says something very different. In an “all inclusive” provision, policy 3.27 provides that if your property doesn’t meet all the “sensitive resource protection standards” of the LCP (of which there are hundreds) “one primary structure shall be the only permitted development on the site, and the structure shall be restricted in size and designed to maximize the setback, buffer or other resource protection standard to the maximum extent feasible.”
If you don’t believe it, just read the LCP (and the maps showing your lot) on the Coastal Commission’s Web site, www.coastal.ca.gov. Read it before the next election. This LCP effectively confiscates 90 percent of many lots in Malibu and one of them could be yours. As a City, our ability to change these policies will depend on the commitment of our City Council to stand firm to protect our basic rights and fight the State’s absurd theories that our gardens are ruining the environment.
Anne Hoffman