The Malibu Planning Commission met on Monday, Aug. 21, to discuss permits for family residences and two of the ritziest destinations in Malibu: SoHo’s Little Beach House and Nobu restaurant.
SoHo’s Little Beach House, one of many around the world, is a local membership-only club for the creative community. Meanwhile, Nobu is famous for its Japanese cuisine and even more famous clientele. Both places are adjacent to each other at 22700 block of Pacific Coast Highway.
They also have another thing in common: parking space issues.
SoHo’s Little Beach House finds alternative parking
In April, Little Beach House was given a year to come into compliance for, among other things, its parking issues. Employees are currently forced to park off site, which often leads to parking along PCH. According to the city’s parking codes, employees are required to have a parking space assuming the venue has a parking lot.
With a large staff and frequent patrons, Little Beach House looked to expand parking elsewhere. Management is currently proposing use of The Enclave, a commercial office building nearby on PCH, provided an agreement can be reached.
On The Enclave’s side, this agreement would have to be in compliance with the Malibu Municipal Code (MMC), which allows onsite parking to be leased or rented to offsite uses. The offsite building has 74 spaces, which would be more than enough to support employee parking.
The club has about 120 employees, 40 of whom work during its busy hours and would therefore require parking.
Before the meeting came to session, the commission received a letter from a neighbor claiming that the club “had been playing blaring music and that it appeared that they [SoHo’s Little Beach House] were operating as a nightclub with a DJ and, on occasion, having live music.”
The club had not come in for a temporary use permit to hold events.
When the meeting opened this topic to public comment, Caroline Lee, representing SoHo’s Little Beach House, came to the podium to assure commissioners the club was cooperating and that The Enclave looked promising.
Marissa Coughlin then came to the stand, representing residential property owners and their tenants in the area. She said she went to the block, where the two restaurants are located, to observe their practices on an early Saturday morning. Among her observations, she noticed the valet would park customer cars all the way down to the now closed La Salsa Fresh Mexican Grill.
In a unanimous, 4-0 vote, the commission decided to give the club until Dec. 18 to procure a parking agreement compliant under MMC. Chair Mikke Pearson was not in attendance.
Nobu deals with valet situation while searching for offsite parking spaces
Next-door neighbor Nobu was up next on the Planning Commission’s agenda. It was up to Vice Chair Chris Marx and commissioners Jeff Jennings and Steve Uhring to conduct the hearing, since longtime commissioner John Mazza exited following the Little Beach House item.
In a phone call with The Malibu Times, Mazza explained he left since the item began after the commission’s decided cut-off time of 10:30 p.m.
When the popular restaurant first opened in 2007, it required 74 parking spaces but could only come up with 64 spaces. The neighboring club provided the 10 extra spaces under a permitted agreement.
On June 5, the Planning Commission brought up the fact that Nobu was violating its permits by expanding the dining area and parking cars off site.The restaurant replied they would address the concerns and promptly brought their seating number in the restaurant to the compliance, which was verified by the Planning Commission.
According to Nobu’s representatives, the restaurant’s popularity has made it difficult to accommodate all its patrons. However, they have been meeting with Coastal Commission staff to review places for parking.
Ben Reznick, Nobu’s attorney, stated that Nobu was currently looking into daytime and nighttime parking, specifically offsite parking without beach parking restrictions that are common along PCH.
“Our goal is to gain control of the valets,” he said. The restaurant has pressured its valet attendants to use the crosswalk when crossing the street. To further hold themselves accountable, Nobu installed video surveillance in the front of the restaurant.
Reznick emphasized that it was common for employees of popular Malibu restaurants to park along the highway.
Brian Leon, general manager for Nobu Malibu, said he took comments from the community seriously. He also mentioned the video surveillance and said a letter was sent to all Nobu employees on July 27.
The letter stated that employees were required to be respectful of the community by not taking part in actions such as blasting music. Employees were required to sign the letter to confirm receipt.
Coughlin again took the podium to address tenants’ concern. While she was happy that Nobu had taken steps to rectify the issue, she still believed there was lack of good faith.
During her comments regarding SoHo’s Little Beach House, she made a point about the two businesses.
“Not so much with the new SoHo but with Nobu … They have parties that come in the mandated view corridor, on the original coastal permit between the two buildings,” Coughlin said. “They bring plants—23-35 feet high—in boxes [that] block the view corridor for private parties and [then] they take them away after.”
Nobu’s previous representation, Richard Scott, had asked neighbors not to appeal their conditional use permit as a gesture of good faith but Coughlin argues that the restaurants also had to be considerate.
The Planning Commission decided in a unanimous, 3-0 vote to give Nobu until Dec. 18 to come up with a suitable parking agreement.