In its second effort to deter vehicles from overnight parking along Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) this year, Malibu City Council voted, 4-0, to approve nighttime parking restrictions along two additional segments of PCH—one near Zuma Beach and one near Corral Canyon Beach. The council first voted to restrict nighttime parking on the highway during its Jan. 13 meeting, during which it approved restrictions for segments near Las Tunas Beach and the Malibu Pier.
Due to a potential business-related conflict of interest, Council Member Jefferson “Zuma Jay” Wagner again left the room on the advice of City Attorney Christi Hogan. Wagner also recused himself from the Jan. 13 vote.
On the northbound (land) side of both segments, there will be “No Parking” signs between 12-2 a.m., and on the southbound (water) side from 2-4 a.m.
During public comment, Malibu resident Barbara Lawrence spoke in favor of parking restrictions.
“There was an article in the LA
Times about people saying they have beachfront properties. I pay taxes. They don’t pay taxes,” Lawrence said. “And we need the parking sign.”
Lawrence referred to the Jan. 26 LA
Times piece covering the original parking restrictions approved during the council’s Jan. 13 meeting. The article features the perspectives of those living along PCH in RVs or cars. Some of those interviewed told the LA
Times “the highway was an avenue of last resort.”
Residents Tina Saunders and Ami Rushes both spoke about various crimes in the area that they said were related to homelessness.
“There are people here right now that worked really really hard to be able to have a house on the water, and now we see all these people coming and invading our neighborhoods,” Rushes said. “Everything is free. We have no rights anymore at all. All the rights are going to homeless people or people that just want to live on this lot for free, and there’s nobody to help us.”
“I wish that Barbara, Tina and Ami hadn’t left yet, but we are working on this,” Council Member Mikke Pierson said later in the meeting. “It is extremely difficult. It’s extremely complicated, legally.”
Pierson described the homeless situation as a “societal disaster,” and invited those interested in the topic to attend the Special City Council Meeting on homelessness Wednesday, Jan. 29, at City Hall.