Despite Mayor Pro Tem Rick Mullen declaring the move as “delay, delay, delay,” city council voted Monday night to gather more information before deciding whether or not to sharply constrict home size in Malibu.
The proposal would have essentially allowed city staff to determine certain proposed homes were too large to fit in with the “neighborhood character” of the other homes in the area.
On Monday, council voted, 3-1, to direct staff to gather more information before a final decision would be reached. Mullen abstained from the vote, while City Council Member Lou La Monte voted “no,” ostensibly because he was so against the idea he did not want information to be gathered to look into it further.
“This—no matter what anyone says here—will definitely affect property values,” La Monte said prior to the vote. “If you don’t believe it, just look at history.”
The most resounding argument against the idea was that cutting out the possibility to expand home size over a certain square footage would cause a massive decline in property value, striking older, long-term homeowners the hardest. As older residents look forward to retirement, the argument went, they were hoping to cash out, selling their smaller, aging houses to buyers who would construct larger, modern homes on the sites.
Former Mayor Andy Stern did not mince words when addressing the issue before council, saying a vote in favor of the restrictions would constitute council members “turn[ing] your backs on your old residents.
“If you take the action you’re taking tonight, you will dramatically lower the property values for your longtime residents,” Stern warned. “You’ll be robbing them of their ability and right, frankly, to retire with dignity.”
The conversation grew tense at times, with shouts from the audience, applause, eye rolling from members of council and other disruptions.
Council Member Laura Rosenthal, who introduced the motion to ask for more information, was also adamant that homes currently in the permitting process—estimated at 96 houses as of Monday—would not be subject to any new restrictions.
Council Member Rick Mullen—whose request to have City Attorney Christi Hogin draw up language for the code change was voted down—spoke strongly in favor of the neighborhood character restrictions, to combat what many describe as “mansionization.”
“In my opinion … every applicant from here on out who puts an application in for a residential building should go through that process and see how that house fits into the neighborhood that they’re going to be a part of,” Mullen reasoned, later adding, “It’s considerate when you’re moving into a neighborhood to fit into the neighborhood as best you can … It’s the right thing to do.”
Some who attended the meeting, including representatives from the Malibu Coalition for Slow Growth, said smaller homes fit in with Malibu’s “rural nature.”
Mullen added he did not believe it would result in a loss of money for residents.
“It’s not going to diminish anybody’s property values, in my mind, and I’m sure it’s true,” Mullen said.
“I think it’s a very scary thing to a lot of people in our community,” Mayor Skylar Peak said. “I think no matter what we decide to do, if we move forward with this, we’re going to need a lot more input.”
City staff pledged to bring back data—including a statistical analysis of the last 20 permitted home sizes and information about how other cities regulate square footage—in November.