Residents and city staffers turned out in force to blast the commission about not including city input in the latest draft land use plan.
By Carolanne Sudderth/Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu residents packed an auditorium on Tuesday to give the California Coastal Commission a piece of their mind over the draft Land Use Plan (or Local Coastal Plan) proposed for Malibu at an informal public workshop at Webster Elementary School.
Upset that the commission drafted a plan for Malibu without city or local input was a main contention of most residents and city staff. Also, some feel the plan would overdevelop Malibu.
“If the Coastal Commission’s plan is implemented, all we’re going to have is shopping centers and overnight hotels,” said Pat Healy of the Malibu Coalition for Slow Growth.
Attempts to develop a LCP for Malibu began in 1977, shortly after the Coastal Act went into effect. At that time, Los Angeles County held jurisdiction. Its supervisors successfully submitted a Land Use Plan in 1982, which was certified in 1986. After its incorporation, the new City of Malibu developed a General Plan of its own.
When a Malibu draft LCP was submitted to Coastal Commission staff in March 2000, the city was informed verbally by commission staff that the document “was not sufficient in detail or content to meet the requirements of the Coastal Act.”
Meanwhile, the Coastal Commission drafted a Malibu LCP of its own, which was finally released to the city last month.
Speaking for the City Council, indicating the rancor that exists between the city and the commission, City Manager Katie Lichtig led the charge at the workshop, expressing her displeasure that there had been “little or no effort” to engage the city’s participation, “even though the city made repeated [efforts]. We believe that it violates the basic concept of the Coastal Act–the reliance on local governance and procedure. To date, the city attempts to be involved in the development of the LUP have been in vain.”
Planning Director Barry Hogan echoed her sentiments.
“We feel that the draft LUP far oversteps its bounds,” he said. “It makes every decision subject to the Coastal Commission, and to date, the commission has turned a deaf ear.”
However, there were no commission ears to hear on Tuesday. None of the Coastal Commissioners made it to the meeting, nor did Executive Director Peter Douglas–a fact that did not go unnoticed or over easy with those in attendance.
Malibu resident Georgia McBurney was one of several who took offense when staff said they would try to get transcripts of the meeting to commissioners prior to the formal hearing on Nov. 15.
“Do you understand,” McBurney asked, “that having to attend this meeting [Nov. 15] only two weeks after makes this meeting seem like a charade? I just wonder if these hearings are doing any good.”
Malibu’s elongated footprint lies entirely within the Coastal Zone, in principle, placing the entire city under Coastal Commission jurisdiction.
Concerns about the commission draft plan included new restrictions on current homeowners, ostensibly to protect fragile coastal ecosystems, while at the same time implementing protection measures that could encourage future development.
Malibu Parks and Recreation Commissioner Laura Rosenthal emphasized the need for balance. “What you’re asking us to do is to give up the little that we have for the residents and the children for the sake of visitors.”
Geoffrey Hunter asserted that some of the language was unclear. ” ‘Life-extending activities’ could be interpreted as [meaning] I can’t even paint the house–I can’t paint the roof.”
Parks and Recreation Commissioners joined soccer moms in pleading for the preservation of Bluffs Park.
The five Little League fields currently shared by the Pony League, AYSO and other youth groups, they said, are far more valuable than the site would be as passive recreation–or an RV park.
Dermot Stoker, also a parks commissioner, urged the Coastal Commission to “set aside whatever differences you may have” and work with the city government to “come up with a document you can be proud of.
“Please work with us,” he asked, and let’s start afresh.”
The Coastal Commission will conduct a hearing on Nov. 15 in downtown L.A. at the Hyatt Regency, 711 Hope Street, at 9 a.m. Most of the day will be devoted to the Malibu LCP.