Planning Commission to consider coastal permits
On Monday, the Planning Commission will be presented with its first two residential applications for coastal development permits. The items were supposed to be before the commission on Feb. 22, but the meeting was canceled due to the poor weather.
The commission will vote on an application for a 6,700-square-foot home on Zumirez Drive and for an addition to a home on Sea View Drive.
Possible lawsuit for Malibu Stage Co.
Malibu Stage Co. co-founder and former director Charles Marowitz said he is gathering information to prepare for a lawsuit against Malibu Stage Co. Marowitz said Malibu Stage Co. ousted him in 2003 in violation of a contract he had.
Jackie Bridgeman, co-founder and current director of the Malibu Stage Co., said Marowitz never had a contract. She said he proposed one to the board of directors, but it was rejected.
Lions Club challenges Malibu Farmers’ Market
Malibu Lions Club President Doug O’Brien has issued a three-page challenge to Cornucopia’s request for a conditional use permit renewal for the Malibu Farmers’ Market. O’Brien sent the notice to several City Councilmembers and said he planned to send it to the county.
O’Brien wrote, “[The] permit was originally issued, and Cornucopia was granted $25,000 for [the] sole purpose to bring an organic product farmers’ market to the city of Malibu, which, if such a ‘market’ ever existed, no longer does. It cannot now, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered a ‘farmers’ market,’ but is instead a flea market, which is clearly outside the purveyance of the permit!”
The Malibu Times faxed a copy of the notice to Cornucopia officials on Tuesday, the day the newspaper goes to print. President Debra Bianco said, “I just got it. I have no time to give you the correct information and to state the inaccuracies of this.”
A Planning Commission hearing on the conditional use permit is tentatively scheduled for April 4. The commission can approve the permit, but its decision can be appealed to the City Council.
Charter school meeting
A meeting will take place on Friday on the subject of transforming Malibu High School into a charter school. Miles Denniston of Charter Schools Development Center will speak. The meeting will take place at Zuma Bay Villas Clubhouse, located off Westward Beach Road, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Those interested in attending should contact Steve Wolfson at 980.4946.
Tsunami relief fundraiser
The Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School’s Student Council Community Service Commission and T.E.A.M. Tsunami will host a fundraiser to raise money to help rebuild the Naucrates Marine Research Center and nearby villages in Thailand destroyed in last year’s tsunami.
The event will take place on March 10 from 6:30-7:30 pm in the Point Dume Marine Science Elementary School library and will include a presentation about the work of the Naucrates Marine Research Center.
Book signing event postponed
The Robert Joseph Ahola publication party and books signing that was supposed to take place at Diesel, A Bookstore on March 3 has been postponed to April 10 at 3 p.m. The local author, playwright, screenwriter and producer’s book is called, “Return of the Hummingbird Wizard: An Angelic Encounter for Modern Times.”
Diesel, A Bookstore is located at 3890 Cross Creek Road.
Alleged celebrity stalker to act pro se
According to The Associated Press, 34-year-old Zack Sinclair will represent himself in Los Angeles County Superior Court on charges of stalking Malibu resident and actor/director Mel Gibson.
Gibson has said that Sinclair has repeatedly gone to the gate of his Malibu estate, one time even evading security, and asked to pray with the actor. Sinclair also allegedly sent religious letters to Gibson and his family.
Local state officials
to host environmental hearing
On Friday at the Del Rey Yacht Club in Marina del Rey from 9 a.m. to noon, state Sen. Shelia Kuehl and state Assemblymember Fran Pavley will chair a joint hearing on the economic and social value of keeping California’s air, coast and ocean clean.
The legislators will hear testimony from a variety of experts on the health risks of environmental pollution, the economic impact of pollution and the state of the art environmental clean-up methods.
Wine country
The second annual Wine Classic will take place on April 2 at the Sunset Restaurant in Malibu next to Westward Beach. The event is open to the public and will feature more than 40 wineries from Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles.
In addition, more than a dozen Malibu restaurants will be serving signature dishes. Malibu has several dozen small vineyards and many of these locals will be at the event partaking in the wine festivities..
Potential roadbed failure near Paradise Cove, PCH
The California Department of Transportation engineers have been keeping a wary eye on a potential roadbed failure that could close Pacific Coast Highway near Paradise Cove-a landslide that would have cut off the last major road link into the Malibu Civic Center area from the outside world. Cracks have developed and the pavement has slumped slightly on the road between Escondido Creek and the Latigo Canyon Road turnoff.
Field engineers say the roadway may be at the mercy of subterranean water oozing from the hills that have been saturated with more than 30 inches of rain this season.
Working on Thursday, a specialized crew from Sacramento drilled a pair of 80-foot-deep shafts into the roadway to retrieve core samples. They carefully packaged the 3-inch-wide tubes of mud and ooze for shipment to state labs, where the dirt will be analyzed for moisture content and soil stability.
Specialized measuring equipment called slope indicators were then placed in the shafts, which will be covered with manhole lids, said Caltrans engineers at the scene.
In Los Angeles, spokeswoman Jeanne Bonfilio says slope movement was first noticed on this hill in 2002. “Last week there was a small slide at Via Escondido on the northbound side of the road during this recent rain, and we are installing slope indicators to monitor the rate of the slide and the depth of the slide material,” she said.
The cracks and subsiding pavement were first apparent to southbound Pacific Coast Highway motorists last October, after the season’s first unusual and heavy rains fell.
Two weeks ago, a Caltrans team sprayed the pavement cracks with a white substance, photographed and measured the damage, and then spread tar into the cracks to waterproof them.
The road has been reopened to traffic since then, with only a slight bump evident in the right lane for southbound vehicles.