The city approved sending a letter to the county expressing various concerns about traffic, noise and other impacts from the university’s expansion project.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
The Malibu City Council directed city staff on Monday to send a pointed letter to the county regional planning commission recommending it consider the council’s and residents’ concerns about impacts from increased traffic, noise and light pollution that may result from Pepperdine University’s expansion project.
The deadline for public comment on the Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project was extended to Thursday this week at the request of the city. Since Pepperdine is not within Malibu city jurisdictional borders, the council has no legal power to vote on or amend any portion of the project.
The city staff’s draft of the response letter, released last week, identified seven intersections in Malibu that would suffer “significant and immitigable” impacts during peak traffic hours if the proposed expansion is allowed to continue as planned. Residents of Malibu Country Estates, which borders the university, complained that existing problems with noise, traffic and light pollution will only be exacerbated under the expansion proposal.
Robert Briskin, director of the Malibu Country Estates Homeowners Association, told the council, “We are suggesting that the letter be inclusive of mitigation measures” to the Pepperdine expansion project.
The plan, which encompasses nearly 400,0000 square feet of new development on 365 acres of existing campus land, consists of, among other things, renovating residential housing on campus, which would add 468 beds, expanding athletic stadium seating by almost 2,000, adding outdoor lighting to the women’s soccer field, building a welcome center and making a parking lot for the School of Law.
Residents of neighborhoods bordering the university have complained of the scope of the project, fearing especially that traffic during concerts and athletic events in the expanded facilities would be overwhelming.
Rhiannon Bailard, assistant vice-president of Governmental and Regulatory Affairs at Pepperdine, said traffic would be actually reduced by expanding campus housing by more than 400 beds, thereby eliminating the daily commute for hundreds of students who currently live off campus. Bailard also said any light pollution would be mitigated by technology that reduces light scattering by focusing beams downward.
As well, Bailard said most athletic events would not occur during peak hours, which she listed as 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.- 6 p.m. on weekdays. Bailard said only six events were sold out at Firestone Fieldhouse, site of the proposed expanded athletic center, during 2010, and none of those occurred during peak traffic hours.
Councilmember Lou La Monte said that while he bore Pepperdine no ill will, he believed the burden of proof should be on the school to mitigate negative effects from expansion.
“They should be able to find a way to make 107 home owners happy,” he said.
The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission will vote on the project in March. It must also receive approval from the Coastal Commission.
If approved, the project is estimated to take 12 years to complete.
Council vacates portions of Rambla Pacifico Road
The council on Monday voted to vacate stretches of Rambla Pacifico Road destroyed in a landslide in 1984. Various legal disputes and other problems have prevented the road from being reconstructed since that time.
The city will retain easements for pedestrian and utility access. The Planning Commission in June granted a permit to construct a 1,800-foot-long, 20-foot-wide private emergency access road. The gated road will be privately funded and maintained by the Lower Rambla Pacifico Road Owners Association.
City Attorney Christi Hogin spoke in favor of vacation, saying the city had determined it was not able to build a road for vehicular access. By vacating the portions of the Rambla Pacifico, the city will be absolved from legal liability it would have faced had it rebuilt the road.
“It’s been a long road [coming to the decision to vacate the portions of the road], and I’m glad we’re finally reaching the end of it,” Councilmember Lou La Monte said.
Council actions
– The council voted to consider the use and availability of practice fields at Malibu High for youth soccer, which faces a shortage of facilities in Malibu.
– Malibu residents Regan Schaar and Laurie Cappello implored the council to help find a permanent home for Papa Jack’s Skate Park, which is facing closure in roughly two months. Council members voted to put the issue on the agenda for the next council meeting on Jan. 25.
– The council voted to create a subcommittee to study reallocation of $54,000 in Coastal Commission funds currently being used to operate a shuttle at Point Dume. The shuttle has drawn criticism due to infrequent use. An item was placed on the agenda for the next meeting in order to decide how to spend the $54,000, which the city will retain.
– At the request of Councilmember Laura Rosenthal, Monday’s meeting was adjourned in memory of the victims of the shooting attack in Arizona over the weekend that critically wounded U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and killed six others.