Kim Devore
Saving the neighborhood: It takes a village…but it can be done
Attending a Planning Commission meeting on a hot, stuffy evening when you are at the bottom of the agenda is about as fun as getting jury duty or making a trip to the dentist. But my recent adventure before the commission proved that, like jury duty, often justice is served and, like a trip to the dentist, sometimes you can stop a bad thing from getting worse.
Despite the fact that we were armed with more than 200 protests from local residents with legitimate concerns about traffic, safety and crime, the odds were definitely not in our favor.
We were there to stop a planning department staff recommendation to allow a 24-hour Circle K booze and gas “convenience” store operate right on our front doorstep at the already dangerous intersection of Rambla Pacifico and Pacific Coast Highway. An out-of-town businessman apparently purchased the old Spirit gas station. The service bays (which were a local convenience) would be removed. Instead of being able to repair a flat, they would be providing another place to buy a buzz, mostly for folks just passing through.
All the locals I know go directly across the street to Country Liquor, a long-time establishment that respectfully turns off the lights at 10 p.m. and turns away drunks who’ve had one too many. That’s also where you can pick up milk, cookies, Kettle One, toilet paper, bread, 409, bandages, brew-you name it. If you’re in need of a few nails or a new light switch, A&B Hardware is right next door.
To keep us from getting laughed out of city hall, we needed to do our research. We discovered that in our little census track of the La Costa area, two alcoholic beverage permits are allowed. There are nine existing. To us, that clearly indicated an over-saturation of alcohol along a residential highway that is treated like a freeway. We also discovered that it was up to the city to prove there was a community necessity for more places to load up on two-buck chuck.
With daily problems of public drunkenness, littering, loitering and traffic collisions, we didn’t think there was a need. But, as was pointed out by one of the commissioners, “These things are not decided by the community.” The applicant assured the commission that, although he doesn’t live here, he very much cared about Malibu and would be a good neighbor. His neighbor to the east complained that after the applicant allegedly took the liberty of cutting down his 40-year-old trees, his way of demonstrating the good neighbor in him was bewildering at best.
To underscore safety concerns, Ryan from the La Costa Beach Club reminded the commissioners that a car hit him earlier this summer while attempting to use the crosswalk. My husband explained that his friend was the bicyclist who was killed on the highway by a catering truck a few years back. I noted that just when I happened to be taking photos to demonstrate the close proximity of the existing gas station to the La Costa Beach Town Homes, there just happened to be a head-on, hit-and-run collision that shut down the highway.
Considering it was the day after Labor Day, our turnout was pretty impressive.
Bill Chadwick was there on behalf of his three young daughters who live just down the way. My pal Parker griped about his daily battle against empty booze bottles and trash. One guy said he was on a first name basis with all the Sheriff’s deputies because there had been 20 bad accidents in front of his PCH home. Duane King noted ongoing problems with trespassing underneath his condo complex on a rough and wet stretch of beach. Mrs. Eells brought her Webster school-aged son whose bedroom sits 15 feet from the place where late night booze transactions would be taking place.
So there we were, a sweating, ragtag crew of about three dozen locals with our petitions and fliers, a young boy and small cat, all sitting on what would surely be the Titanic, the sinking of our mission.
At the end of the day, the commissioners went against their staff and nixed the booze idea on a unanimous vote. The commissioners made some very good points and posed some very intelligent questions. My cynicism was delightfully undermined and my faith in the process was pleasantly restored. Even though “these things are not decided by the community,” we came, we spoke, we were heard and, in a small way, we saved our neighborhood.
This all goes to prove that if you’re really committed, get everyone involved, and do your homework, the people who get paid to run the place just might respond.
On my way to the sandwich shop the next day I ran into Richard Carrigan, who is familiar with city workings. “They did what!?” he gasped. “That’s incredible. Wow! Power to the people!”
It takes a village, but it can be done.
Kim Devore is a staff writer and columnist for The Malibu Times newspaper.