This is in response to Julia Goldberg’s letter in which she said about the Malibu Township Council: “I’ve never heard of them.” The Malibu Township Council was established in 1947, 46 years before Malibu became a city. The Council is dedicated to preserving the natural beauty of Malibu. As a 46-year resident of Malibu, I am proud to be a dues-paying member. I believe that what makes Malibu special is its rural character and natural beauty. In Malibu, we are privileged to live with sounds of coyotes and owls at night and the shrieks of red-tailed hawks during the day. Dolphins and whales are visible from our beaches. The Council feels that it is not the celebrities, not the mansions, and not the restaurants that make our beautiful town so special. It is the natural world.
There was a time when people came here to get away from the land of “dog parks” or traffic lights. Unfortunately many who are drawn here by the natural beauty unwittingly bring things that transform our rural seaside town into something resembling Newport Beach or Brentwood. The light goes in at Corral Canyon for convenience or safety along one of the few stretches of PCH where the road comes close to the water (without garage doors blocking the view of the ocean). When you bulldoze a beautiful ridge for a dog park or a spec home that ridge is gone forever.
I believe, as the Malibu Township Council does, that we should all think long and hard about the permanent changes we make to the natural beauty of our surroundings. Some may not agree with those ideals, but there are a lot of residents who do. The forces of change are relentless. It would be nice if everyone who lived here was as willing as the Malibu Township Council to stand up against ridiculous assaults on our natural beauty. If Ms. Goldberg wants to know more about the Malibu Township Council she might get in touch with them. If she is concerned about her tax dollars being spent to deal with their legal action, imagine how we feel about a few million tax dollars being spent to bulldoze a beautiful ridgeline for a dog park.
Jenny Ball