More than 40 residents speak out against the Malibu Lagoon project, while the Council approves sale of the Malibu Lumber Yard lease and decides to reissue a request for proposal of a new city skate park design.
By Melissa Caskey / Special to The Malibu Times
Approximately 100 community activists gathered at Monday’s City Council meeting to express their frustration over the Malibu Lagoon restoration project and implore the council to take action against it after the lagoon was mysteriously breached over the weekend.
Though the project was not up for discussion on the agenda, a majority of the 45 speakers who signed up for the public comment portion vented feelings of anger, sadness and disappointment against the restoration project, which got under way June 4 when state officials began relocating reptiles and clipping plants from the lagoon.
Activists were also angry over a breach in the lagoon that occurred Saturday night. Craig Sap, Angeles District Superintendent for California State Parks, said the state has yet to determine a cause for the breach and it is still being investigated. The breach did not affect the project, Sap said.
Mayor Laura Rosenthal had to quiet several attendees who interrupted her and her fellow council members in their responses to public comments. She also drew heat from lagoon activists when she recommended that they exercise their civic power by calling public officials, writing letters and attending public meetings.
“We are doing that,” one attendee yelled back.
Rosenthal said she spent an hour on the phone with the state parks and recreation department last week, asking the state to grant Malibu more time to examine alternate plans for the Lagoon, but the state refused.
“You are all just as powerful and as strong as we are,” Rosenthal said. “I’ve got a fancy title and it gets me some things and it obviously didn’t work with State Parks at all.”
Each council member said they would try to attend Wednesday’s California Coastal Commission meeting in Huntington Beach and relay community frustration.
“This has become a boondoggle,” Rosenthal said. “It’s split the community.”
Lumber Yard lease sale approved
The City Council approved the sale of the Malibu Lumber Yard lease agreement by Malibu Lumber LLC to Glimcher Properties Limited Partnership. CEO Michael Glimcher said the company will continue working with the management company Malibu Lumber LLC hired and continue encouraging local relationships with Malibu- and Los Angeles-area businesses.
“I view this property as a gem,” Glimcher said.
Glimcher said his company wants to increase tenant occupancy to 90 percent. About 80 percent of the Lumber Yard is currently occupied.
“They are a strong company,” said Malibu’s financial consultant Allan Kotin. “They have a real commitment to the kind of upscale quality that Malibu Lumber Yard represents, they are going to maintain the strong local relationships that they’ve built with their current manager and [the city] should make the same amount of money.”
Glimcher Properties owns a number of malls nationwide, including Puente Hills Mall in Stockton, Calif., which has drawn criticism from some Malibu residents concerned that Glimcher may not be interested in leasing to local community-serving businesses.
Kotin said property taxes will increase slightly upon transfer of the lease and rent projections are consistent for the next 10 years.
Skate park design process starts over
The City Council rejected all proposals for a local skate park design and is reissuing a request for proposal after members of the skateboarding community — including a skateboarding ad hoc committee — said they were excluded from the interview process during which a four-person panel selected Woormhoudt Inc. to design a skate park at Malibu Bluffs Park.
Regan Schaar, a member of the ad hoc committee, said she and her fellow committee members were not consulted on any decision involving the design.
“We have jumped the gun and gone straight to [Woormhoudt] when there hasn’t been any input from skateboarders,” Schaar said.
Schaar’s 12-year-old son Tom, a renowned local skater, was given a commendation by city council at the beginning of Monday’s meeting for being the first person to complete a 1080 skateboard trick.
With the rejection of the proposals, up to three skateboarding community members will be included on the interview panel to select a design consultant.
“It’s really important to have the skateboard community thoroughly involved as much as possible,” Councilmember John Sibert said.
Cultural Arts Commission
Mayor Pro Tem Lou La Monte moved to establish the Malibu Cultural Arts Commission, marking the creation of a commission he and Mayor Rosenthal have worked on establishing since 2010.
Malibu activist John Mazza praised the creation of the commission but also pointed out a lack of funding for the commission in the city’s budget.