Several Malibu city council members voice concerns that Larry Ellison’s plans would congest traffic at the old Windsail site and that the mogul has not offered any concessions to the city in exchange for development perks.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
Several city council members voiced their disapproval in giving the 15th richest man in the world permission to construct a Japanese restaurant on his property near the Malibu Pier, saying the project would negatively impact the area. The council voted 3-2 on Monday to approve a Local Coastal Program amendment that would reclassify Oracle CEO Larry Ellison’s property to allow for commercial projects; a portion of that site is currently designated for multifamily housing.
The item was expected to be routine since the property historically has been used for restaurants, including most recently the Windsail Restaurant. Also, the city’s General Plan already designates the property for visitor-serving commercial development, and this item was expected to simply create consistency between the LCP and the General Plan. However, some council members were upset that Ellison, who was never mentioned by name, would not be providing any public benefits to the city with the project, while the previous owner of the property had promised the city a community room and funding for education in exchange for development perks.
“They [Ellison] sort of get what they want but they don’t follow the development agreement,” Councilmember Andy Stern said. “The city doesn’t get any benefits. I’m troubled by this; especially since the applicant assumed the development agreement when he bought the property. He knew what he was getting when he bought the property.”
Despite his comments, Stern ended up voting in favor of the LCP amendment, as did Councilmembers Sharon Barovsky and Jeff Jennings, equaling enough votes for approval. However, Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich and Mayor Ken Kearsley voted against the item, with Conley Ulich saying she would prefer multifamily housing be at the Windsail site. Kearsley did not specify the reason for his vote on this particular issue but he did give a lengthy speech on how he disliked Ellison’s project in general because he believed it would create a traffic nightmare with cars backed up along Pacific Coast Highway as valet attendants attempt to park cars into the tightly squeezed parameters.
An LCP amendment must still receive approval from the California Coastal Commission. Ellison’s project will be included later in the year in a package with several other amendments the city will send to the commission. The Coastal Commission historically supports visitor-serving commercial projects, especially in Malibu.
Prior to the council’s vote on the amendment, the members drilled City Attorney Christi Hogin with various questions about what would happen if it declined the request. Hogin said it would put Ellison in an impossible situation that would prevent him from being able to build on the property because a commercial project would not satisfy the LCP and the city’s General Plan would not allow a residential project. Ellison’s attorney, Richard Scott, hinted that a situation like that could lead to a lawsuit.
“The City Council tonight, if it chooses not to pass this … is basically entering into a stalemate where the applicant can’t go forward either way,” Scott said. “That is not only not fair, it is, from a legal standpoint, a temporary taking, if not a taking ultimately.”
Scott and his client’s plight received sympathy from Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, who said, “It seems that this is a government mess-up. Whether it’s our fault or the Coastal Commission’s, it’s certainly not the prior owner’s or the present owner’s. There’s an inconsistency, and a responsible government tries to straighten that out.”
Although the Windsail property has had a series of restaurants on it, the city’s General Plan had the site designated for multifamily housing until 2003. The council voted to change the designation that year at the request of then-owner Richard Weintraub. Therefore, when the Coastal Commission ratified the LCP in 2002, its designation was consistent with the city’s General Plan. To further complicate matters, the property is technically composed of three parcels (this does not include the neighboring PierView Café site also owned by Ellison), with two of them designated for visitor-serving commercial and the third as multifamily housing. But the city’s amendment applies to all three parcels.
The council at its next meeting will be asked to vote on rescinding the development agreement that was made in 2003 with then-owner Weintraub. The Planning Commission will be reviewing this issue at its meeting on Tuesday, and vote on a recommendation for the council.
The Planning Commission in January gave coastal development permit approval for a 5,900-square-foot Japanese restaurant on the Windsail site and a 7,100-square-foot restaurant on the adjacent PierView Café property. The PierView site project is ready to go, but the other one must await the finalization of the various governmental issues.