Rural visions for Malibu. We all want them. Which City Council candidates can best help us achieve them? Looking back, Los Angeles County approved all original property uses and subdivisions of Malibu for a population of 135,000! This was not our vision and the Cityhood rebellion won. Since then, all the City Councils with varying successes and some mistakes have worked to help make us more rural and less congested.
One major mistake was the re-zoning of all Civic Center properties to commercial uses. This was insisted upon by former City Councilmembers Walt Keller and Carolyn Van Horn. We all make and regret mistakes. But it is wrong to mislead and blame others for the results of one’s mistakes. Campaign slogans blaming the current City Council for too much commercial zoning in the Civic Center lose their credibility if you go back to the origins of its commercial-only zoning.
In contrast, our current City Council, with Councilmembers Jeff Jennings and Ken Kearsley at the helm, has listened to the community and drafted a new Civic Center vision. This includes parks, gardens, and a forest of green landscaping encompassing pedestrian walkways with small shops below and housing above. This mixed use planning is a much better fit for our rural vision than the commercial only Civic Center vision of earlier city councils.
This new Civic Center plan is part of the Council’s amendments to the Local Coastal Plan to help us responsibly continue Malibu’s rural residential and low impact ocean-oriented lifestyles. The Council is acting to restore horses, gardens, and farming in the LCP if they met environmental, public health and safety criteria on a site-by-site basis.
None of the candidates opposing our current City Council bothered to show up at City Council’s recent hearing on LCP amendments. Not one used this important meeting to illustrate their capabilities for constructive dialogue or to offer specific policies about how to enhance Malibu’s rural visions and clean up the pollution at one of its unique resources, Malibu Creek, Lagoon and Beach.
On April 13, vote for Council Members Jennings and Kearsley. They have repeatedly shown that they can continue the city’s best work to facilitate fairly and wisely our visions for a rural and ocean friendly city.
Dr. Jeff Harris