U2 guitarist The Edge, as well as his family and friends, have lost their battle to build five large estates in the hills above Malibu.
The California Coastal Commission, in an 8-4 vote, rejected the controversial proposal to build four luxury homes on 156 acres on contiguous parcels overlooking Serra Canyon, as well as a 6,010 foot access road extending from Sweetwater Mesa Road. Originally there were five permits up for consideration, but one of the property owners pulled its application before the vote could take place.
Commission staff earlier this month recommended denial of coastal development permits for the development project by The Edge, whose real name is David Evans, and his family and friends in Malibu.
Staff had said the project would result in significant visual impacts and that it would significantly disrupt the local vegetative habitat. The commission followed its staff’s recommendation with the vote.
”In 38 years of this commission’s existence, this is one of the three worst projects that I’ve seen in terms of environmental devastation,” Peter Douglas, the Coastal Commission’s executive director, said. “It’s a contradiction in terms — you can’t be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location” given the effects on habitat, land formation, scenic views and water quality.”
Fiona Hutton, whose public relations firm represents the applicants, disputed Douglas’s statement in an email to The Malibu Times Friday: “Frankly, we’re outraged by this decision and the inflammatory statements of Coastal Commission staff, given we had worked collaboratively with them for the past four years and they had previously recommended approval of 60 separate applications for homes with the same size footprint and in the same habitat area, raising serious questions about this decision and its motivation.”