Let Malibu decide

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As a Malibu resident and physician who cares about our environment and our people, I am happy to endorse Mayor Jeff Jennings and Councilmember Ken Kearsley for re-election this April 15. I believe that if you approach environmental and human issues on a site-by-site basis with science and consensus building, both aspects can usually be respected and benefited. Extremist slogans and approaches usually don’t produce real solutions. From a multitude of past experiences, I believe that Ken Kearsley and Jeff Jennings practice these beliefs and approaches.

As a past member of the City Council Local Coastal Plan (LCP) Committee and continuing evaluator of California Coastal Commission (CCC) drafts of the current state-dictated LCP, I can attest that the City Council and staff have done a good job for us in responding to many extreme CCC LCP policies.

When you are evaluating candidates, their literature and records, consider the following:

1. The Council Committee LCP work product was a rough draft, not a finished policy document. It was a basis for joint discussions with the CCC. It was summarily dismissed twice by CCC staff in March 2000, not by the current council.

2. The second city LCP was compiled from the City General Plan and Interim Zoning Ordinances. It should not [be] mislabeled as a “developers’ LCP.”

3. CCC’s “Malibu LCP” emphasized visitor-serving commercial development at the expense of our environment: hotels and greater commercial densities were promoted for the Civic Center and to replace lower cost housing in Paradise Cove; the tide pools of Paradise Cove and Point Dume lost their city protected status.

4. Almost all of inland Malibu with any chaparral, sagebrush, sumac trees or weeds, like mustard, fennel and non-native grasses, became CCC Environmental Sensitive Habitat Areas (ESHA). Horses, 100-watt outdoor lights, homes painted white, fences and non-native plants became prohibited developments; policies to reduce brush clearance will endanger wildlife habitats, residents and firefighters from wild fires.

As a result of AB988, the city has to persuade the CCC into redrafting its policies. This is being tried through an amendment process. You are welcome to evaluate the city proposed amendments and ESHA maps at the City Web site and City Hall and participate in the related City Council Meeting March 22.

We don’t want Malibu to look like the Coastal Commission’s visitor-serving model, Huntington Beach, with many hotels and condos with a beach devoid of houses and sea life plagued by sewage and storm outfalls.

It is time again to renew our citizen’s plea of October 2002 to Let Malibu Decide.

Jeff Harris