A councilmember says he’s offended by the remark. The conservancy will meet Monday to vote on amending its proposal, called the Malibu Parks Public Access Enhancement Plan, which city officials are opposed to because it does not require city approval.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
City Councilmember Andy Stern said he heard “the most offensive remarks from any attorney” at the council meeting on Monday when a lawyer representing the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy spoke in opposition to a council measure in support of the Ramirez Canyon property owners in their conflict with the conservancy.
The council passed a resolution requesting that the California Contract Cities Association, an organization consisting of more than 70 cities that contract out for some municipal services, oppose the SMMC’s plan to enhance its Ramirez Canyon Park property and two nearby parks. Included in the conservancy’s plan is a proposal to create programs that would bring many visitors to the parks, along with the creation of overnight camping grounds.
“While it’s not our position to comment, we cannot help but note that passing this resolution will only enhance the reputation in some quarters that it [Malibu] is an elitist and exclusionary enclave,” said attorney A. Catherine Norian, who spoke on behalf of the SMMC prior to the council vote.
Norian added that the approval of the resolution would harm the city’s relationship with the conservancy. The two government entities are often in conflict, but recently have had some moments of common ground.
“While the conservancy is trying to negotiate peace, the city is trying to reopen the war,” Norian said.
She concluded, “This motion will be the conservancy’s best evidence of how the assertion of local control renders it impossible for the conservancy to achieve its mission of affording public access to the mountains.”
In response to Norian’s comments, Stern said, “I have never seen someone so very far off the mark. If your intention was to offend us, to not deal with the issues; then I suggest you did a fabulous job.”
Mayor Ken Kearsley called Norian’s remarks “fallacious” and “untrue.”
Councilmember Jeff Jennings said the passage of the measure was necessary because other cities need to be aware of the conservancy’s plan. Malibu officials are opposed to the plan because it does not require city approval, despite the land being within city limits. Only the California Coastal Commission needs to approve it. City officials have said the plan violates Malibu’s Local Coastal Program and its Master Trails Plan.
“We don’t want a privilege going to some other governmental organization, allowing it to go around our planning laws,” Stern said.
The council resolution states that California Contract Cities should “encourage the partnership between the city and the conservancy in the conservancy’s plan to improve and expand its recreational resources and conservation efforts within Malibu and in any area where the conservancy conducts business.”
At its meeting in Agoura on Monday, the SMMC board will vote on amending its proposal, called the Malibu Parks Public Access Enhancement Plan. The board will then vote next month on the final proposal, and it will be sent to the Coastal Commission for approval. The SMMC has not yet determined when and where that meeting will take place.
The Ramirez Preservation Fund, which represents Ramirez Canyon property owners, has voiced its opposition to the enhancement plan for many of the same reasons the city did, including concerns about the danger of people accessing the narrow road to get to Ramirez Canyon Park and the creation of overnight camping grounds. Two mediation sessions took place last month with the fund and SMMC to resolve that matter and the fund’s opposition to the SMMC’s offices being on the Ramirez Canyon property. The sessions did not garner a resolution.
Since the mediation failed, the fund has renewed its lawsuit against the SMMC to remove its offices from the Ramirez Canyon property. A court hearing has not been scheduled.