The marathon organizer needed City Council support to get a permit from Caltrans to close down a portion of Pacific Coast Highway for the race.
By Jonathan Friedman/Assistant Editor
The City Council refused to support the Malibu Marathon at its meeting Monday, making it unlikely the event will occur as scheduled on Dec. 5. No vote was taken, but all five members said they would not support it. The marathon organizer, Malibu Marathon LLC, needed a City Council resolution in support of the race to obtain a California Department of Transportation permit to close down a portion of Pacific Coast Highway. Glen Steele, head of Malibu Marathon, said he has not yet decided what he will do next, but he said there were a great deal of things said at the meeting that were not true.
Earlier this year, Steele approached the city about sponsoring the race. With that sponsorship he could have received the city’s help in obtaining the necessary state permits for the event. The council declined to vote on the sponsorship until it received a recommendation from the Parks and Recreation Commission, which later recommended approval. However, later in the summer, Steele switched gears and decided not to seek city sponsorship. He instead chose to partner with a nonprofit organization that provides athletics for children with fatally ill diseases called CoachArt. Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich said this bothered her.
“I’m disappointed you went and found somebody else and didn’t complete talking with us,” said Conley Ulich, who added that the city is a nonprofit entity, and would have satisfied Caltrans’ requirement for a nonprofit sponsor. Malibu Marathon is a for-profit company and Caltrans required a nonprofit sponsorship before it would grant a permit.
However, Steele said in a Tuesday morning interview that it was at the advice of the city that he decided to no longer pursue city sponsorship. He also said at the meeting that the city did not qualify as a nonprofit as far as Caltrans was concerned. Parks and Recreation Director Paul Adams said the opposite was true.
Conley Ulich said she was further troubled by the fact that CoachArt was not even located in Malibu, but rather in Los Angeles. With its sponsorship of the marathon, Steele had guaranteed the organization $15,000. In contrast, he had earlier stated that he would donate 10 percent to 12.5 percent of the net revenue of the event to five local charities: the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Heal the Bay, The Wellness Community, the Malibu High School Shark Fund and a special fund dedicated to city land acquisition for parks. But Steele had said the chance of making a profit on the marathon was low. Conley Ulich said she could not support an event that would inconvenience the community, without guaranteeing any benefit.
Also during the meeting, Tony Griffin, son of Merv Griffin, told the council that he had originally come up with the idea of doing a marathon in Malibu. He said he was working with Steele until it became clear that Steele wanted it to be a for-profit event. Griffin said he would like to bring a nonprofit marathon to Malibu. Councilmember Ken Kearsley said he would be interested in speaking with Griffin about that. Steele said Tuesday morning that the issue of for-profit versus nonprofit never came up between he and Griffin. He said the reason for their split was because Griffin wanted the final say in all issues regarding the event.
The Web site advertising the marathon has a statement saying that registration fees are nonrefundable. However, on Tuesday, Steele said he would refund all monies if he decides not to go ahead with the event. He also said he might consider delaying the date of the marathon.
Basement rules finalized
After four- and a-half years of debate, the council finally approved an ordinance to amend the Municipal Code regarding basement development standards. The new standards are intended to restrict the size of basements, subterranean garages and cellars, as well as clearly define what the structures are. The goal was to make these structures less visible, including a loophole that allows people to build a quasi-third floor.
A major feature of the ordinance is that the underground structures’ square footage is counted toward the calculation of the total square footage of the home. One square foot will be counted toward the square footage of a home for every two square feet the underground structure is larger than 1,000 square feet. Previously, square footage of the structures was not counted toward total square footage. A home’s size in Malibu is limited to 15 percent of the lot size, unless a variance is granted.
Risk Assessment
The council approved the final version of a document called the “Risk Assessment of Decentralized Wastewater Systems in High Priority Areas in the Civic Center Area in Malibu.”
The report comes after a yearlong study of water treatment systems in certain areas. The report will be incorporated into a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board. In that memorandum, the city has agreed among other things to complete an inventory of all onsite wastewater treatment systems in Malibu, implementing treatments requirements for wastewater systems affecting the Malibu watershed and a continued monitoring of Civic Center area groundwater data.