A judge rules that a permit granted by the city for the construction of a home on Carbon Beach is valid. Entertainment mogul Lou Adler, who wanted the permit revoked, says he does not know if he will appeal.
By Jonathan Friedman/ Assistant Editor
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge last week denied music and film producer Lou Adler’s request to get a permit revoked for the construction of a home owned by Bill Chadwick on a parcel located next to Adler’s Carbon Beach property. Judge David Yaffe ruled that the permit met current city law.
Adler had filed a lawsuit alleging that Chadwick’s permit did not follow the city’s stringline rule, a law that prevents the building-out of beachfront homes beyond the line of adjacent homes, that was in effect in 2001 when the permit was issued. The rule has since been adjusted and Yaffe said the permit follows the new law, making it unnecessary to reject the permit for a home that is already under construction.
This was Adler’s second attempt to get Chadwick’s permit revoked through litigation. He also previously tried to do it through negotiation with the city. Alan Block, Chadwick’s attorney, said he was pleased with the latest decision and hoped this brought an end to the matter.
Adler and his attorney, Edward Burg, said they disagreed with Yaffe’s decision for two major reasons. They said the permit should have to be in line with the law from 2001, because that is when the permit was issued. Also, they said the permit does not even comply with the new stringline rule. Adler said he did not know if he would appeal the decision until he has read Yaffe’s written decision, which had not been issued at press time.
City Attorney Christi Hogin said the cost of the two trials to the city was $38,000. Councilmember Sharon Barovsky said that was money that should never have been spent. She said the Planning Commission should have made it clear that the permit was valid in 2003 when Adler approached the commission about holding an appeal hearing on the permit, a request that was at first accepted and two weeks later denied after two commissioners were fired for making the original decision
“I think beginning to end it was an unfortunate waste of everybody’s time and everybody’s money,” Barovksy said.
Adler said he agreed the litigation was a waste of money, but he said this could have been prevented if the city had been willing to admit the permit was invalid, something he said the city knew before litigation began but refused to admit.
“The city’s position is that if you don’t agree with them, you’re wrong,” Adler said. “They [Malibu] don’t try to resolve anything. It’s not the best way for a city to operate.”
Judge Yaffe had ruled that the permit was invalid in the first Adler lawsuit, but left the decision whether to reject the permit to the City Council. After the council refused to reject the permit last year, Adler filed the second suit.