In the latest development between Malibu and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority (MRCA), Judge Amy Hogue of the Los Angeles County Superior Court ruled against the city in late August that the MRCA is allowed to keep its signs, trashcan and picnic table up on its Sycamore Park property as the legal battle continues. Malibu had hoped the courts would force the MRCA to remove the items, which are placed on MRCA property within the private neighborhood.
“They refuse to obey the local Malibu zoning ordinances,” Ken Kearsley, former Malibu mayor and Sycamore Park resident, said in a phone call with The Malibu Times. “And so we asked the court—that is, the City of Malibu asked the court—to get a temporary restraining order [preliminary injunction].”
It is no secret that the relationship between Malibu and MRCA—and by extension, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC)—is strained and complicated, to put it lightly.
The case stems back to a 2.38-acre MRCA land purchase in the private Sycamore Park neighborhood, which was made back in late 2017. Joseph T. Edmiston, MRCA executive director, deemed the land as public access to trails for members of the public—his “guests,” so to speak—and installed large signs, a park bench and a trash can. This upset homeowners in the neighborhood, who felt their residence and way of life were being encroached upon by a governmental agency.
After residents complained about the new installations, the city looked into the situation and sent the MRCA a Notice of Violation for operation without a Coastal Development Permit (CUP) on Feb. 13, demanding the agency remove its bench, trash can and signs. The agency did not comply with the city’s demand.
Tensions rose between the homeowners and Edmiston; on March 22, the agency filed a lawsuit against 14 private residents and four companies associated with the community on the basis that having a “security kiosk,” which residents refer to as a “shed,” and a security guard without a CUP was in violation of the California Coastal Act. This case, separate from the court case between the City of Malibu and MRCA, has not yet been served as the two parties are currently in litigation over who is entitled to use Sycamore Park’s private roads.
City Attorney Christi Hogin then filed the City of Malibu lawsuit against the government agencies in late April on the grounds that signs, bench and trashcan—”developments” on the Sycamore Park property—were in violation of the California Coastal Act. As previously reported by The Malibu Times, the suit was filed after multiple attempts to get the MRCA to comply with city and coastal code.
In June, MRCA went before Malibu Planning Commission for a deadline extension on its permit to construct a house, guest house and garage on its Sycamore Park property, which was promptly denied. The commission found the picnic bench and trashcan constituted “an elective project redesign that would entirely change the land use from the current entitlement.” When the MRCA first purchased the land, it was zoned for rural residential use and had a Construction Development Permit for a 4,000-square-foot residence.
The MRCA appealed the decision; in a statement, representatives said the City of Malibu “has demonstrated a clear bias towards the MRCA over the recent months, calling into question its ability to render a fair and impartial hearing on this CDP extension request” in early July.
In regard to City of Malibu vs. Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy Agency, Judge Hogue ruled, “The court remains unpersuaded that the city has established grounds for injunctive relief under the Coastal Act, Section 30803(a). The court therefore denies the city’s request for injunctive relief,” as stated in court documents obtained by the Times.
The preliminary injunction, if it had been approved, would have required the MRCA to remove signs on its Sycamore Park land.
When asked about the case, MRCA public information officer Dash Stolarz, in an email to The Malibu Times, said, “The judge’s order speaks for itself. We have no further comment.”
Kearsley was undeterred by the court ruling.
“The real issue is the conditional use permit,” Kearsley said. “If they can come in and buy a piece of property and ignore our zoning laws and create a park in a rural residential area, then everyone in Malibu is at risk.”
The case will go to trial with the same judge on March 20, 2019, at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown Los Angeles. In the meantime, the signs, bench and trashcan at Sycamore Park are here to stay.