The boards of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority last week approved the Malibu Parks Public Access Enhancement Plan. The final legislative step for the plan is the California Coastal Commission. The date for that hearing has not been scheduled. The City of Malibu filed a lawsuit last year that is still in the opening stage.
This proposal includes various features, with the most attention dedicated to the plan for 54 overnight camping sites. Some of the major features of the plan include:
Ramirez Canyon
2 overnight camping sites (they can only be built after the construction of a secondary access road from Kanan Dume Road; there is a dispute between SMMC officials and residents on where that road should be located), maximum of 16 large events (up to 200 people) per year at the SMMC property (after road is built), 7 day-use picnic areas (an additional 6 after road is built), 54 parking spaces (48 more after road is built), 14 additional spaces along Kanan, retrofitting of two buildings for use as a last-resort fire shelter, a trail connecting Kanan to Ramirez Canyon Park, trail connecting Ramirez Park to the proposed Coastal Slope Trail
Corral Canyon Park
1 day-use picnic area, 17 overnight camping sites with a double restroom and two fire shelters, a permanent structure for the camp host and/or park administration/employee with a restroom
Bluffs Park
35 overnight camping sites (on the SMMC portion, not where the ball fields are), 40 parking spaces, two new permanent structures, three optional fire shelters, two-stall restroom on Malibu Road
Escondido Canyon Park
Trail improvements to connect the proposed Coastal Slope Trail from Murphy Way to Latigo Trailhead.
Latigo Trailhead
Four day-use picnic areas, a restroom on the knoll, a small parking area consisting of four spaces on a lower portion of the property, an accessible trail connecting the small parking area to the restroom and upper day-use areas