I was at the meeting at City Hall when Richard Weintraub said he welcomes questions from the Malibu community about the huge hotel, stores and condo complex he wants to build on land he owns on Pacific Coast Highway at Malibu Canyon. Mr. Weintraub said he’s our neighbor, that he knows Malibu, and he wants to be “transparent.”
Thank you, because I have many questions, and I value honesty.
Mr. Weintraub, in a fire, earthquake or other disaster, how can your site evacuate and your family and neighbors, too?
Please demonstrate that the evacuation plans for the nearby schools—Webster Elementary, Our Lady of Malibu, Presbyterian Pre School, Malibu Jewish Center Pre-School, Chabad Pre School, and Pepperdine University—will not be jeopardized by the additional traffic you want to bring to the area?
In a fire, how will your family and your neighbors have water flowing from their fire hydrants when your hotel and condo complex will use up a huge amount of water and water pressure for fire protection?
Speaking of water, there are people in Malibu who can’t do much with their homes for lack of water. All of us and you, too, have been told by Water District 29 the water system cannot supply Malibu’s needs as it is, so how much water are you going to use for your condo complex, stores and hotel, and can you prove there is enough water for you?
Why can you have water and the rest of us can’t?
How will you make PCH and Malibu Canyon safer for your family and neighbors if you add more vehicles to the horrifically dangerous roads we have now?
Your family’s and neighbors’ lives are often made miserable by traffic as it is now, you want to add more traffic, so you want your family and neighbors in more miserable traffic jams?
I have questions about wastewater disposal, like why does Malibu need more of it?
I have questions about pedestrian safety, parking, lighting, noise, the fact the site is on an earthquake fault, the enormous archaeological significance of the site, trails and landscaping, and why you think this plan fits in with maintaining Malibu’s rural character, Malibu’s General Plan and Municipal Code, and the common sense of everyone who knows Malibu?
Richard Weintraub knows Malibu well enough to know his plan is no good. It’s dangerous. He’s got to know that, or he’s really dim. He’s got to know the dangers can never be mitigated. So why try? A man who truly cared about the lives of his family, friends and community would not build on this site.
It boils down to an essential question for Richard Weintraub: Which means more to you, making money or the lives of your family and friends?
Cindy Vandor