As the fight over the LUP heats up, and the issue of beach access grows, it will be important for visitors to Malibu to become familiar with a new ordinance in Greenwich, Conn., a city full of rich beach dwellers, not unlike Malibu. Today, according to the Associated Press, the city is forcing visitors to Greenwich to pay to use the beaches. Nonresidents will have to buy a seasonal pass for $308, and another $100 to park a vehicle. Watch out, Coastal Commission. The people of Malibu who claim to be liberals except when it comes to their own NIMBYs may take notice and adopt this new way to keep our poorer neighbors out.
Susan Tellem
A case of paradise lost?
I moved here with my wife and three children in 1993. Within three weeks the fire of ’93 overcame Malibu. Despite the fires, the floods and the water shortages, Malibu was the closest thing to paradise that I could imagine. Every morning, as I entered my car to go to work, I played the soundtrack from the movie, “Camelot.” Malibu was, and still is, Camelot to me.
My son played baseball and soccer on the ball fields at Bluffs Park. Even back then he oftentimes had to go as far as Moorpark to play. I supported the teams and even contributed team jackets to the baseball team. In my numerous discussions with State Parks, everyone was aware that Bluffs Park was state land and was to be returned to the state. Malibu was leasing the land (at a $1 per year) and had agreed to find and acquire other land for ball fields. (A special condition of the original permit required the ball fields to be phased out and alternative sites for fields identified). It was the obligation of our elected officials to acquire the replacement ball fields.
To now find that our children are being used as a tool to malign the Coastal Commission is truly an injustice. The ball field problem could have been easily solved if the citizens of Malibu had passed the Bond Measure that was supported by more than 62% percent of the voters. Place the blame where it belongs! Think! It isn’t very hard.
Ozzie Silna