A group of Malibu Park residents filed an appeal with the California Coastal Commission on Monday seeking to overturn the Malibu Planning Commission’s approval of a Malibu High School renovation plan. The residents, whose homes neighbor the high school and are represented by the Malibu Community Alliance (MCA), accuse the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD) of altering a nighttime lighting compromise reached at a Malibu Planning Commission meeting last month. MCA is also embroiled in separate litigation with the school district over field lights at Malibu High School.
A district official said the appeal came as a shock.
“I have no idea what they’re talking about in terms of us reneging on something and trying to alter the agreement,” said Jan Maez, Chief Financial Officer for SMMUSD. “We are fully agreeable to adhering completely to what the Planning Commission set forth in the [Coastal Development Permit.] So why they seem to think we’re trying to alter something, I don’t know.”
The dispute appears to stem from conflicted understandings of the Planning Commission’s alteration of a lighting plan for a new 150-space parking lot on campus on March 18. The commission approved limited nighttime lighting of the parking lot for 31 nights per year until 10:30 p.m. Sixteen of those nights were to coincide with athletic events at the main athletic field, while 15 nights were approved for open houses, science fairs and back-to-school nights, when many people are on campus late.
After the commission’s vote, City of Malibu Senior Planner Joseph Smith prepared a resolution that would effectively allow the three parking lots to be lit until 8 p.m. every night.
The resolution states specifically that the new parking lot “maybe be lighted until 10 p.m.” while the school’s two existing parking lots “may be lighted until 8 p.m. nightly,” meaning every night of the year. The resolution stated the three parking lots “may be lighted until 10:30 p.m.”—at the same time—for up to 31 nights.
MCA spokesperson Cami Winikoff said the MCA understood that the March 18 verbal agreement at the Planning Commission dais to be that none of the parking lots would be lit “nightly.”
“That’s not what the intent was,” Winikoff said. “MCA was talking … very specifically about lighting on 31 nights.”
Maez disagrees and said the district still plans on following what the City of Malibu’s resolution outlined.
“I believe the resolution accurately reflects what the planning commission took action on,” Maez said, before adding, “The district did not have a part in the final resolution. We will adhere to the language drafted by the city.”
The appeal throws renovation plans in limbo as both sides will have to wait on a decision from the California Coastal Commission.
“We will continue moving forward with our planning stages to the extent that we legally can,” Maez said. “Before we start awarding contracts and actually constructing anything we’ll need to have this phase of it resolved.”
The Coastal Commission has 49 days to take action on the appeal, meaning the commission would have to do so at its next meeting on May 8-10 in Marin County because the June meetings will not happen within the 49-day window. If the commission finds ‘substantial issue,’ or that the city made an error in issuing the CDP, the school district will be forced to seek a new permit from the CCC.
The SMMUSD project also includes plans to construct a new academic building, renovate several existing classrooms, create new student drop-off and pick-up lanes, two new tennis courts, a new quad for students and a 700-foot right-hand turn lane on Morning View Drive that would accommodate 195 cars.
At the March 18 meeting, many public speakers expressed disappointment that a debate over lighting underscored what they view as a much larger issue. The renovations are to be funded by Measure BB, a $267-million measure that passed more than six years ago and has funded renovations currently underway at Santa Monica High School and Lincoln and John Adams Middle Schools in Santa Monica. Malibu High was allotted $33.5 million from the measure.
“I don’t imagine this appeal will be well received by the school community,” Maez said.