Malibu City Council approved the purchase of 35 acres of land located at Trancas Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway during the Monday, Aug. 8 meeting.
The price of the lot was estimated at $11,377,000; however, the financing options for purchasing the property have not yet been decided.
The city has access to a large sum of reserve funds which may be utilized for the purchase. City Manager Reva Feldman also presented the option of using a Certification of Participation (COPs), a financing tool for cities.
The Trancas property has long been sought after by city officials.
“This has been worked on for 25 years or more,” Planning Commissioner John Mazza said.
The council does not currently have any development plans for the property, but recognized its potential to service Western Malibu residents.
“Growing up on the west side of town, there’s definitely a lack of recreation space up there,” Mayor Pro Tem Skylar Peak said. “I think this is an extension of the things that build communities in our town locally will really improve something like raising a family or being an adult here and not having a family for future generations.”
If city officials choose to use reserve funds for the purchase, the undesignated general fund reserve will fall to “slightly lower than 50 percent.” A city council policy requires the reserve fund to operate at above 50 percent in preparation for disasters.
“One of the things that allowed us to [approve the purchase] was being fiscally conservative and developing a sound reserve,” Council Member John Sibert said. “That fiscal conservativeness that we’ve been chided for before is what made this possible.”