breakfast Project is smaller in size. Will go before City Council for vote.
By Christie Lopez/Staff Writer
After a rigorous five-hour hearing, the Malibu Planning Commission, at its Monday night meeting, voted to approve the Forge Lodge bed and breakfast to be built near the Beaurivage restaurant on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon Road.
Following both expert and public testimony, the commission voted unanimously to certify the environmental impact report (EIR), then approved a 28-unit building project in a 3-1 vote. The approved project permits a smaller lodge facility than requested by applicants Daniel and Luciana Forge, owners of Beaurivage restaurant, in the original 32-unit project proposal.
At the meeting, which was filled with the Forges’ supporters, Commission Chair Richard Carrigan said, “Daniel and Lucianna Forge, congratulations to you. You got a lot. You got a big project. We’re all happy.”
The number of the project’s buildings originally posed problems for some.
One speaker said, “It’s a huge project on a landslide area, and it must fit the site.”
Commissioner Deirdre Roney had brought 12 seeds she had picked up from the site and, prior to the vote, she placed them on a table in front of the commission to remind herself and others about 12 trees on the site that would be cut down if approved at the 32-unit size.
The commission’s approval also includes several specific stipulations designed to mitigate the potential impact of the new lodge facility.
The debate presented to commissioners by concerned citizens and other interested groups centered over balancing private property rights with environmental and safety concerns. The conditions attached to the project attempt to mitigate the impact of new development on traffic in the nearby intersection as well as on the environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA).
These conditions include not only a smaller-scale project (one less building than proposed), but also a $50,000 contribution by the applicants for a traffic signal fund, which could be used for a nearby intersection-should a signal be approved by Caltrans in the next five years-and a non-vehicular access route for pedestrians crossing PCH. Conditions also include the retention of 12 trees on the property with no further development in the ESHA area, along with approval of the plan by the city’s geologist.
Though safety is a significant concern to both citizens and commissioners, the commission limited the approved project to a fair share contribution toward traffic improvements in the area, as opposed to the previous suggestion of a traffic signal as a requirement of the building project. The commission stated such a condition would be unfair to the applicants, considering Caltrans makes signal placement determinations based on specific criteria. Should Caltrans not choose to install a traffic signal at the PCH and Corral Canyon Road intersection within the next five years, the applicant’s contribution would be used for traffic improvements in the area, and any unused funds would be returned to the applicants.
The provision for a non-vehicular access route to the ocean was designed to provide a safe route for pedestrians who often dash across PCH headed for the beach. According to many of the meeting’s speakers the current underground pedestrian easement has not succeeded in deterring foot traffic over the highway.
The conditions placed on the project also attempted to balance environmental concerns with the economic and aesthetic value the new development is expected to bring. The condition requiring the elimination of one 4-unit building would spare 12 trees that would otherwise have been removed while creating a less dense development area. The commission reached a compromise on the ESHA by eliminating the construction of a building in the environmentally sensitive area yet reducing the ESHA setback from the originally suggested 100-foot setback line.
Many community members voiced their opinions during the public hearing. Thirty community members were scheduled to speak during the hearing, some of whom donated their time allotment to other speakers.
Prior to the final vote, Commissioner David Fox epitomized the complexity of the evening’s debate when he referred to his role as “a balancing of interests.” The new project proposal will now go to the City Council for approval.