Malibu property owners have one more week to take part in the city’s trial View Restoration Program before the option is closed off for good. The program, which began last March in a move by the City Council to gage interest in how many Malibu residents are interested in view restoration, had received 55 applications from interested property owners as of Tuesday, according to the city.
The council passed a view preservation ordinance in February, but delayed a decision on view restoration amid fears of lawsuits. Should Malibu officials decide to move ahead with view restoration, the property owners who have applied for the program would be the only ones eligible to have their views restored, said associate city planner Ha Ly.
“There’s not an ordinance for restoration in place yet,” Ly said. “The city is just soliciting information from people in case of a future restoration ordinance.”
Property owners still have until Wednesday to apply for the program. To apply, property owners must pay a $271 fee to submit a view assessment application to the City of Malibu.
For property owners who want to preserve their existing primary views of offshore islands, the Pacific Ocean, canyons, valleys or the Santa Monica Mountains, there is no set deadline, so those who miss the VRP deadline can still apply for preservation after Sept. 26.
City planning officials said many applicants are choosing to simultaneously submit the application for both preservation of a current view and a possible restoration of an old view to get City officials to make a site visit as soon as possible.
The staff determines a primary view by taking a photo from a five-foot elevation in a property’s main view area. “If an owner could take a snapshot in time, this is what they would want their view to look like,” Ly said.
If foliage from neighboring properties grows to obscure that view in the future, the property owner can have the city force the offending neighbor to trim the foliage and restore the view should mediation and arbitration between the two parties fail.
The city could not estimate how many property owners are eligible for the program, Ly said. But city officials were responsible for notifying 7,418 property owners in Malibu, a staff report stated.
City Councilwoman Laura Rosenthal is among those planning on participating in the program. She strongly supported the ordinance when the City Council voted on it in March.
“The program helps restore the main reason why a lot of people bought their homes,” Rosenthal said. “There has to be a way for people to get their views back.”
Rosenthal has spoken frequently about her neighbors’ unwillingness to trim Eucalyptus trees that obstruct the view from the backyard of her residence in Malibu Park. The councilwoman said she has yet to submit her application, but said she would complete the form closer to the deadline.
“I also know a lot of people who haven’t applied yet who plan on doing it,” Rosenthal said. “That’s how Malibu is. We tend to wait until the last minute.”
Rosenthal said that her personal advocacy for view restoration would not be cause for recusing herself from a vote on the matter because it would affect everyone in the city.
“I won’t be recused because it’s a citywide ordinance,” Rosenthal said.
City Attorney Christi Hogin confirmed City Council members who might be affected by the program do not have to recuse themselves from a potential vote because the preservation ordinance and a possible future restoration ordinance are citywide issues.
“When a large group is affected then it’s not a conflict,” Hogin said, citing the “public generally” exception in California’s Political Reform Act of 1974.
The idea for a view preservation plan was the result of an April 2008 advisory measure—Measure E—which asked voters if “Malibu City Council adopt an ordinance that would require the removal or trimming of landscaping in order to restore and maintain primary views from private homes.”
After 60 percent approval from voters, the City went on to hold more than 30 public meetings between June 2008 and December 2011 to address the creation and implementation of the ordinance.