Court says Serra Retreat can have its gates
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Paul Flynn ruled last week that the Serra Canyon Property Owners Association did not need a permit for the three swing-arm gates it had constructed at the entrance to Serra Retreat off Pacific Coast Highway.
The gates had been taken down in the fall after the city ordered that be done because the California Coastal Commission said the gates required a coastal development permit.
The gates were constructed in June after Serra Canyon received a coastal exemption from the city based on a clause in the Malibu Local Costal Program that allows exemptions for “improvements to any structure other than a single-family residence or a public works facility.” But N. Patrick Veesart, the California Coastal Commission enforcement officer issued a notice in August to Serra Canyon demanding the gates be removed because they were not exempt, he wrote, since the gates were not directly attached to the gatehouse. Also, he wrote that the gates interfered with a public access route that begins along Serra Road and is owned by the California Department of Parks and Recreation. Serra Canyon had agreed not to disturb that public access way in a 2003 litigation settlement that gave it an after-the-fact coastal permit for the gatehouse.
Serra Canyon Treasurer Ozzie Silna said the property owners association is waiting to put the gates back up until it hears whether the decision will be appealed.
DNA test results from Ferrari crash are in; Sheriff’s officials won’t reveal results
With DNA test results in, drunk driving charges against Stefan Eriksson will be considered by prosecutors later this week. But Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s deputies will not say on the record if the suspected drunk driver’s chemistry matches the blood smears on the now-infamous Enzo Ferrari that wrecked in Malibu Feb. 21.
At press time, the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station would not reveal if the DNA tests place Eriksson at the wheel of the $1.2 million exotic car, which was speeding at an estimated 162 mph when it was destroyed in a crash six weeks ago on Pacific Coast Highway.
“I can’t release the DNA results until we wait to talk to the district attorney,” Sgt. Philip Brooks said Tuesday.
Brooks would not comment when a reporter theorized that the DNA results would only be forwarded to the district attorney for prosecution if they concluded that Eriksson had cut his lip when the driver’s seat air bag popped open during the crash.
Deputies have said they would file three misdemeanor criminal charges against Eriksson, for drunk driving, reckless driving and making false statements to a law officer, if the DNA test places him behind the steering wheel.
Eriksson has denied the charge.
Meanwhile, detectives at the Sheriff’s Emergency Operations Bureau say they have opened an embezzlement probe at the behest London police on the possible embezzlement of a Mercedes SLR McLaren, worth more than $450,000, that Eriksson reported was stolen from him last year in Britain.
A woman who identified herself as Eriksson’s wife, 33-year-old Nicole Persson, was pulled over by Beverly Hills police officers on March 26 after an officer patrolling Wilshire Boulevard at Beverly Drive noticed the McLaren had no North American license plates.
The car was impounded after the vehicle identification number matched an identical car that British police said had been stolen.
One Book One City Month
The organizers of One Book One City have announced that an event will take place on May 6 to kick off the month of activities involving Joan Didion’s “The White Album.”
At the event, the keynote speaker will be Marc Weingarten, publisher of “The Gang That Wouldn’t Write Straight: Wolfe, Thompson, Didion and the New Journalism Revolution.” The event will take place at 3 p.m. at the Malibu Library, located at 23519 Civic Center Way.
Also, Diesel, A Bookstore will sponsor a “New Journalism Writing Contest” and Malibu High School will have its own writing contest. For more information, call 456.6438.
5th LNG proposal surfaces
A fifth company has surfaced with plans to place a liquefied natural gas terminal along the Southern California coast. Tidelands Oil & Gas Corp., a small San Antonio gas pipeline company, said Tuesday it would file applications to locate a floating terminal in either southern Santa Monica Bay or the San Pedro Channel.
The company has hired David Maul, former director of the California Energy Commission’s natural gas office, to advocate for the project. Maul told The Malibu Times that Tidelands hopes to avoid environmental and safety criticisms that have delayed the other projects.
Tidewater is conducting a feasibility study and has not yet decided on technology or an exact location. Three other firms have also proposed stationing floating LNG platforms off the California coast, and a fourth wants to build a terminal in Long Beach Harbor.
The Tidelands proposal comes while coastal advocates and energy company supporters are gearing up for three days of public hearings on the 14-story high natural gas terminal that BHP Billiton wants to anchor 13.8 miles off Malibu’s northwest end. The Malibu hearing will take place April 18 at Malibu High School.
-Daniella Bosio, Hans Laetz and Jonathan Friedman