In other matters, filming at Malibu homes can extend to 20 days with permission of surrounding residents.
By Jonathan Friedman/ Assistant Editor
With most of its options gone, the City Council on Monday approved a letter addressed to Coastal Commission Executive Director Peter Douglas in a new effort to make changes to the Malibu Local Coastal Program that the city and the commission can accept.
The letter is the second draft of a copy that was previously read and commented on by Coastal Commission staff. In it, the city agrees to withdraw its application for an amendment to the LCP in exchange for the Coastal Commission staff’s agreement to work with the city on making changes to the set of documents that establishes land-use laws in Malibu. The end of the letter provides a space for Douglas to sign to signify he agrees with its terms.
Last year, Malibu submitted its amendment proposal to the Coastal Commission staff for review. The amendment consists of hundreds of pages worth of proposed changes to the LCP. Jack Ainsworth, director of the Coastal Commission’s South Central Coast District, recently informed the city that coastal staff believed the amendment was an attempt to rewrite the LCP, and it would be recommending to the 12 voters on the commission to vote against the amendment when it comes before them in August. Ainsworth added that the staff would not inform the city how the amendment features could be modified to become approvable. But Ainsworth offered to work with the city on revising the LCP if it would withdraw its amendment proposal.
Recently, city staff met with coastal staff and reached the letter resolution. The letter states that the Coastal Commission would receive amendment proposals in phases. The first one would include a set of 20 items that have already been negotiated by the two staffs and some other items decided upon by the two staffs later. The city would then draft the amendment and send it to the coastal staff, which would either recommend its approval to the coastal voting body or suggest to the city how the amendment could be modified.
The Coastal Commission staff has already tentatively approved the letter that was presented to the council for a vote. However, on Monday, the council added to the letter that the city’s first amendment proposal would include no more than three items selected exclusively by the city. It is not known if this new feature would alter Douglas’ decision to sign the letter. He could not be reached for comment.
City Manager Katie Lichtig said after the meeting if Douglas does not agree to the revised letter, then the issue is dead. She said the city would go through with its original amendment proposal and hope the Coastal Commission would approve it, against its staff’s recommendation.
Mayor Andy Stern voted against the letter, saying it was not strong enough, and put too much faith in the Coastal Commission that it will commit to its word.
City to hire Chili Cook-Off site fundraiser
Also at the meeting, the council authorized city staff to hire a fundraiser, at a cost of $20,000, who will seek private donations to purchase the Chili Cook-Off site. The Malibu Bay Co. has offered to sell the 20-acre property located along Pacific Coast Highway from Cross Creek Road to Webb Way to the city for $25 million if it can come up with the money by December.
Malibu is trying to raise the money through grants and loans. At Monday’s meeting, the council approved a resolution for the city to designate $8.5 million toward the acquisition. That money is not available, but Malibu is expected to seek the funds through a loan, using as leverage the three buildings on the Chili Cook-Off land that the city would own if it bought the property. Rent money from the businesses occupying the buildings would be used to pay off the loan.
The Chili Cook-Off acquisition would be part of a sophisticated $50 million-plus program the city is trying to undertake to clean the Malibu watershed. The program would also include the construction of a wastewater treatment facility on land located behind the old City Hall on Civic Center Way. Heal the Bay wrote a letter to the city last week stating that it is “encouraged” by the city’s plan.
Film permits revisited
Several local television and newspaper media looked on as the council debated revising the city’s film permitting regulations, an issue that got an extra buzz after an article appeared in Saturday’s Los Angeles Times. The council had planned to approve the final wording of an ordinance that would adjust the number of filming days that can take place at one home per year from 14 to 16, but not allow, as previously had been the case, for an extension to 20 days if the property owner could get approval from neighbors.
Just before the item went for a final vote, Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich said a further adjustment should be made, and her colleagues listened and most eventually agreed with her.
With the new proposal, which the city attorney will draft into an ordinance that must be approved at two separate meetings by the council, filming would be allowed at one home for 16 days, but it can be extended to 20 if the homeowner could get 100 percent approval from people living within a 500-foot radius. Also, filming could occur after 10 p.m. until 12 a.m. and from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. if the homeowner could get unanimous approval from those living in the 500-foot zone.
Mayor Pro Tem Ken Kearsley voted against the proposal.
“Having the people getting the signatures can be difficult,” he said. “It brings up issues. I would have preferred a clean law that determines one solid number [of filming days].”
Plastic foam ban not passed
The ordinance to ban plastic foam products was also before the council for a second reading and final approval, but the council asked the city attorney to adjust the language so that supermarkets will not be affected. Conley Ulich said she wanted the ban to be for them as well, but several council members said the idea of the ordinance was to prohibit the selling of food in plastic foam containers, not to ban grocery stores from selling plastic foam cups and other products.
Barovsky said, “We are in pioneer mode here…I don’t want us to… overreach.”