After a rollercoaster year of approvals and denials, an application by Malibu Community Collective, a pot shop proposed by Steve Braverman of Oxnard, has been approved by the Malibu Planning Commission.
The commission voted to approve the pot shop during its Oct. 5 meeting by 4-0 vote, with Commissioner David Brotman absent from the meeting. The project was approved with minor modifications.
The shop will operate on the same lot as Colony House Liquor, a location that had been hotly debated since the application was first submitted in December 2013.
An issue debated at the meeting was that of potential increase in risk for drivers on PCH, a topic that Commissioner Mikke Pierson said was not relevant.
“I think highway safety is a big issue, but I don’t think it relates to opening a business, in that sense, in the existing space, with ample parking,” Pierson said. Pierson also added that the project approval has nothing to do with the personality of the applicant.
“What we do here is we look at how a project conforms to the codes. This project has been round and round,” Pierson said.
Commissioner Jeff Jennings added that part of the reason the project came around again was a change in the city ordinance concerning pot shops.
“This project did come before us, we turned it down,” Jennings said. “It went to the City Council. The basis on which we turned it down – or the basis on which I voted – the City Council changed the law. So that’s all we can do.”
Jennings was referring to an ordinance wording that seemed to imply a pot shop could not operate on the same lot as a liquor store, the wording for which was changed earlier this year.