-The controversial chain store ordinance being advocated by the Preserve Malibu group and its anti-development allies was stonewalled at the Planning Commission, which voted 4-1 against the proposed ordinance. Preserve Malibu and its allies walked out of the hearing, vowing a ballot measure to bring before voters.
-Broad Beach homeowners who have been desperately searching for environmentally acceptable sand to replenish the severely eroded beach may have found a solution. Apparently most coastal towns have proved reluctant to give up their sand, but a couple of commercial sand quarries in Fillmore and Moorpark, which don’t appear to have much of a coastal erosion problem, have sand that might do the job when trucked to Malibu.
-In a tragic hot air balloon accident in Switzerland, 55-year-old Grant Adamson, a descendant of Malibu’s founding Rindge family, was killed. His wife Terry and two daughters Lauren and Megan were seriously injured. All three are still recovering from injuries, some of which have required multiple surgeries and extensive rehabilitation.
-Normally softhearted animal rescuers drew the line when it came to establishing a tiger rescue/housing facility on a 19-acre parcel in the Deer Creek Road area in west Malibu just over the Ventura County line. Plans to store up to five rare white Bengal tigers to be used in filming got a less-than-warm welcome from potential neighbors.
-A study commissioned by the city to try and help solve some of the PCH dangers and traffic flow problems came up with a number of suggestions, including paid parking on PCH to solve the problem of drivers cruising around looking for free parking and creating traffic hazards when they stop and look. There were 79 other recommended fixes, but none that could solve the principal problem of PCH, which is its function as both a main street and a freeway. We also identified the 10 most dangerous PCH intersections in Malibu, No. 1 being the most dangerous:
1. Las Flores Canyon Road
2. Malibu Canyon Road
3. Kanan Dume Road
4. Webb Way
5. Paradise Cove Road
6. John Tyler Drive
7. Cross Creek Road
8. Carbon Canyon Road
9. Corral Canyon Road
10. Westward Beach Road
-The California Coastal Commission for many years has sought the power to impose fines directly onto property owners rather than going through the annoyance of trying to convince an impartial judge that the fines are justified. This year they thought they would finally have a bill to give them the right to directly fine owners: AB 976 passed through the more liberal State Assembly 42-32 but got sidetracked somewhere in the State Senate, probably by a combination of Republicans and Central Valley Democrats. Many of them are not great fans of the Coastal Commission and hesitant to give them powers that would allow them to fine those evildoers up to $1,250 per day.