The public this month will get its first chance to comment on three projects that would develop almost 60 acres of vacant land in the Civic Center area.
By Knowles Adkisson / Associate Editor
Story poles have started to appear in central Malibu, the first evidence of three major building projects that are likely to generate intense interest among Malibu residents. The public will soon get its first chance to comment on these projects in person. Scoping meetings have been scheduled at City Hall for the 148-room Rancho Malibu Resort (May 16); a Whole Foods grocery and shopping center in the Civic Center (May 22); and a subdivision of five luxury homes adjacent to Bluffs Park on the former Crummer property (June 7).
A scoping meeting is one of the first steps in the environmental process for a project. It is a chance for the public to give input on questions it would like to see answered in the environmental impact report (EIR).
“The purpose of having a scoping meeting is to scope out, to ask the public and public agencies, what do you think the EIR needs to cover?” says Joyce Parker-Bozylinski, the City of Malibu’s planning director.
The EIR is a technical document that analyzes the environmental impacts of the project, identifies ways to lessen those impacts and clarifies environmental issues and choices. It is used to inform the public of the potential effects to the environment, and also as a resource for decision-making bodies such as the city’s planning commission that will decide whether to approve or deny the project, or to demand that extra efforts be made to mitigate negative side effects of the project. Such effects may include air quality, noise, visual impacts/aesthetics, geology and transportation and traffic.
At the upcoming meetings members of the public will have the opportunity to ask questions they would like to see answered in the EIR. The public can also submit questions or comments via mail. Members of the city’s planning staff will be on hand at the meetings to record the suggestions, as will an EIR consultant. The EIR consultant is hired by the city and paid by the applicant, but is not supposed to be an advocate for or against the project.
It is the consultant who ultimately studies the questions provided by the public and prepares the report. Parker-Bozylinski said the public’s questions often provide a different perspective to the EIR consultant to answer with questions only locals might think to ask.
For instance, when the city last year commissioned an EIR to update its Housing Element, Parker-Bozylinski said residents told the EIR consultant, “in addition to traffic counts, you have to have summer traffic counts. You should look at aesthetics. Whatever people believe the EIR should look at, that’s the purpose.”
While many residents are likely to have strong opinions on the three upcoming projects, Parker-Bozylinski says the scoping meetings are solely a chance for members of the public to ask questions about the project that they would like to have answered.
“It’s not a debate about the merits of the project,” says Parker-Bozylinski. “It’s simply, ‘We’re going to prepare an EIR, what do you think the EIR needs to cover?’”
Once all of the public comments have been received, the EIR consultant will research the questions and prepare a draft version of the environmental impact report. Parker-Bozylinski said the city expects a draft report for the Rancho Malibu hotel project to be released by early August and one for the Whole Foods development by “early fall.”
The research from the draft report will show where there are significant impacts to the environment or to traffic, for instance. Parker-Bozylinski said many cities require certain intersections to be able to handle a certain amount of traffic. If the preliminary research indicates a project would cause exceedances to a local intersection, it is called a “significant impact,” and the applicant would be required to show ways to mitigate the traffic.
The public will have a second chance to comment on the project after the draft report is released.
“The public can look at it again and can comment on whether they believe the draft EIR covered the comments,” Parker-Bozylinski said. “Did we get it right? It’s all supposed to be science-based, but it’s supposed to be a neutral process. It’s supposed to give information to the decision-makers that they can use to make a decision on the project.”
The EIR consultant then goes back and answers those questions, at which time a final EIR is released. The final EIR consists of the draft report, comments received on the draft and responses to those comments. A certification hearing is then held by the city’s planning commission to determine if the EIR adequately analyzed the environmental impacts of the project. At that point, the planning commission can either certify the EIR or require more study to be done if it determines the EIR is insufficient.
Once the EIR certified, the project still has to go before the planning commission to receive a coastal development permit. If passed by the planning commission, it goes before the California Coastal Commission for final approval. Citizens can appeal a planning decision to the Malibu City Council for a fee. If a project is rejected, the applicant can also appeal the decision to the Malibu City Council.
Scoping meetings
Project: Rancho Malibu Resort (148-room hotel and resort)
May 16, 6:30 p.m., at Malibu City Hall – multi-purpose room
Project: Whole Foods in the Park (grocery and shopping center)
May 22, 6:00 p.m., at City Hall – multi-purpose room
Project: Crummer subdivision (luxury subdivision)
June 7,6:30 p.m., at City Hall – multi-purpose room
Central Malibu projects
Rancho Malibu Resort
Across PCH from Bluffs Park
– 146-room luxury hotel
– 141,428-square-foot main building
– Spa, fitness center, retail, restaurant, bar, banquet and meeting facilities
– 21 casita-type buildings comprising most of the hotel rooms and suites totaling 133,873 square feet
– Two swimming pools
– 543 parking spaces; 165,259-square-foot parking structure will provide most spaces
– Maximum building height of 30 feet, 6 inches (special allowance to 36 feet, two inches for elevator shafts and roof access stairs)
– 27.8-acre site (44 percent landscaping and 25 percent open space)
Crummer subdivision
Adjacent to Bluffs Park
– approximately 24 acres
– Five single-family, two-story residences of between 11,061 and 11,120 square feet. Maximum height of 28 feet
– Swimming pool, basement and either a detached cabana or guest houses at each house
– Private, 34-wide tree-lined street with gatehouse
– 1.39 acres of private open space
– One 2.01-acre lot will be dedicated to the City of Malibu for active and passive recreational use. An option for a 94-space parking lot is included in the plans, resulting in a net increase of 50 parking spaces at Bluffs Park.
– Onsite wastewater treatment system
Whole Foods in the Park
Corner of Cross Creek Road and Civic Center Way (former site of Papa Jack’s Skate Park)
– Five commercial buildings totaling 38,425 square feet on 5.88 acres
– 24,549-square-foot Whole Foods market
– Four smaller commercial buildings ranging from 3,015 square feet to 4,183 square feet, including: tenant spaces, outdoor dining, a central surface parking area, and pedestrian and open space amenities
– Maximum building height of 28 feet
– Approximately 97,000 square feet of open space (outdoor dining areas and play areas) and landscape area
– 220 parking spaces
– 2 electrical vehicle charging stations and 16 bike racks
– Play area with a “sensory playground, water features and native plantings”
– One outdoor dining area next to each building
– 8 sycamore trees removed for the project and replaced onsite by 80 new sycamore trees