Protecting uniqueness of Malibu and limiting development priority for some.
By Ryan O’Quinn/Special to The Malibu Times
Misinformation and inability to compromise were the factors standing in the way of the community coming together, according to an informal poll conducted by the Malibu Vision 2020 Plan team at its first community meeting on Saturday at City Hall.
The 2020 team is an organized collection of citizens that seeks to gather input from residents and propose a formal plan that deals with multiple aspects of the city’s future. Out of 500 invitees, only 64 attended the meeting, including some Malibu CAN members who had complained that nearly all its members were originally excluded from the event.
Led by Rich Adams and Margaret Schultz, the 2020 team opened the meeting by explaining the purpose of the gathering and offering a brief history of its existence.
“We’re an independent group, although nicely sponsored by the city,” Adams said. “The bottom line is, we need to take Malibu into our own hands so the future is what you want.”
Adams said the team had met with seven city department heads, six City Council members, representatives from other cities who have been through a similar process and a number of citizens. He said the Vision Plan was the best way to get broad input and ensure that a small group or special interests do not dictate the future of the city.
The 2020 Vision Plan calls for several phases of implementation including surveying the public, gathering input, organizing a task force and informing the public of their data. Saturday’s meeting was the initial phase of identifying issues and priorities that are important to the populace.
The 64 residents in attendance represented the spectrum of issues and interests that are important to the city, organizers said. In attendance were advocates and opponents of Measure M (the recent ballot issue regarding the Malibu Bay Company proposal), representatives from environmental and civic organizations and various members of homeowner’s associations.
“We got just what we expected,” Adams said. “People are participating well and we thought they would. We want to reach out to two or three thousand people and hear from people we haven’t heard from before.”
Adams said they were looking to enlist about 15 people to step up and serve on the steering committee. The only drawback was that there were not many young people in attendance.
The bulk of the meeting was turned over to Keith Gurnee, a representative from RRM Design Group, the consulting firm that was hired to facilitate the Vision Plan. Gurnee said such a plan was recently implemented in Venice Beach, Palos Verdes and the Port of Los Angeles.
Gurnee said he had done his research as to Malibu’s recent history and believes a vision plan could be successfully implemented. He further compared Malibu to the cities of San Pedro and Wilmington, where there was a long-standing impasse as to the future of the communities.
Residents were asked to provide input in a public comment segment of the meeting as to specific questions regarding Malibu and then were given color-coded dots to vote on the most important issues.
In response to, “Why do you live in Malibu?” the survey revealed “Rural, not suburban” and “natural environment” as the most popular answers.
“What changes are happening in Malibu?” was the second question, and the overwhelming response was increased traffic on PCH and over-commercialization.
One of the questions residents were most interested in having answered was how to protect the uniqueness of Malibu and how to limit commercial development.
Late in the meeting, discussion shifted to the city’s General Plan. Resident Ozzie Silna asked for clarification as to how the Vision 2020 plan was different from the legal plan approved by the city.
Adams said there were some 480 objectives in the city’s General Plan, the demographics and direction of the city may be different now than it was in 1995 and there was no prioritization in the General Plan.
“There’s a flawed process in place,” CAN member Tami Clark said. “We have a General Plan that is not utilized. We need to start with the process and really analyze that. It has to become a mandate and not just pie in the sky stuff.”
“I want a process that empowers the local citizens,” Georgianna McBurney added.
McBurney was formerly head of the group, Yes on Malibu, in favor of Measure M.
Adams said the next step is to present the general results of the meetings and surveys to the City Council and then seek funding to move forward with the specific issues.
At the conclusion of the meeting, another questionnaire was distributed regarding “an ideal Malibu,” which is to be returned by mail to the city manager’s office. The next meeting is planned for Jan. 10 at Malibu High School.