Council member asks that the parking meters be considered for Cross Creek Road.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
If Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich has it her way, the redesign of Cross Creek Road will include parking meters. Conley Ulich requested the city staff look into the possibility of placing parking meters on the city-owned diagonal parking spaces along Cross Creek Road at Monday’s council meeting during the discussion about the COST project to redesign the small, but significant Civic Center area street.
“It’s [Cross Creek project] costing the city a lot of money,” Conley Ulich said. “I think we need to be able to keep the upkeep on the project. I’d like to be able to see if we could get some money to do that, where we don’t have to rely on the taxpayers all the time.”
The city owns most of the diagonal parking spaces on Cross Creek Road, with the exception being a few spaces near Malibu Country Mart.
Although parking meters are not specifically mentioned in the city’s Local Coastal Program, the document does state that a coastal development permit is necessary to limit the amount of time or raise the fee (which would go from free to a cost) for parking near the coast. Obtaining a permit might not be an easy task, since the California Coastal Commission has the final say over coastal permits. The commission is usually reluctant to approve anything that could negatively affect visitors’ access to coastal cities.
The Malibu LCP, which was written by the Coastal Commission, further states, “Restrictions on public parking, which would impede or restrict public access to beaches, trails, or park lands (including, but not limited to, the posting of “no parking” signs, red curbing, physical barriers, imposition of maximum parking time periods, and preferential parking programs), shall be prohibited except where such restrictions are needed to protect public safety and where no other feasible alternative exists to provide public safety.”
Mayor Ken Kearsley asked City Attorney Christi Hogin if proposing parking meters would “cause the Coastal Commission heart burn.” Hogin said she would look into the matter further.
Kearsley went on to say that he believed setting a three-hour limit for parking on Cross Creek Road would actually be a benefit for visitors, and “help more people to access coastal resources.”
The Cross Creek Road Improvements Project, which was approved Monday by the council and will be undertaken between September and May this year, will improve pedestrian safety by minimizing conflicts between pedestrian and automobile traffic along Cross Creek Road from Civic Center Way to Pacific Coast Highway, according to a city staff report.
The project includes removal of the existing street and discontinuous sidewalks. The existing roadway will be replaced with a gently winding, serpentine street, with traffic calming features that were approved by the Public Safety Commission. New pedestrian walkways and “appropriate street furniture” will be installed, according to the city. The existing drainage facilities will be replaced and/or rehabilitated to resolve pooling of water and poor drainage problems.
The original plan had been to eliminate the existing center turn lane. But the council had requested that a left-turn only median be included to allow people to turn into the movie theater area without prohibiting the rest of the traffic flow.
Also at Monday’s meeting, the council voted to hire a consultant who would conduct a feasibility study on the options for the Malibu Library, including becoming independent of the county system. Also, at the request of Councilmember Andy Stern, the governing body voted to send letters of support to Sacramento in favor of Senate Bill 900 and Assembly Bill 1542, both of which would give local governments control over mobile home parks converting to residential-owned properties, and require that the availability of replacement space for the renters be considered prior to the conversion.
“I know of absolutely nothing, no rumor, no anything, that either of our parks would be converted,” Stern said. “But I’d like to be ahead of the curve on this.”