In his recent letter to the Surfside News, Mr Damm left out that only Malibu and no other local government in California has had its community local plan dictated by the California Coastal Commission. No other city has had its constitutional rights denied by the State government’s controversial, dramatic and costly changes to previously locally approved zoning and planning. We have none of the usual fundamental rights to veto or change an extremist wish list of policies and requirements by powerful CCC commissioners and staff. So far, they are succeeding to force us to adopt and implement their wish list at our cost and liability.
The resulting State of California Development Plan for Malibu supersedes our City’s General Plan, zoning and building ordinances. These community goals and rules are our guidelines after thousands of hours of citizen input, public hearings and the certification by our democratically elected City Council. If we don’t agree with a policy or requirement, we can protest and hold our local representatives responsible. We can recall or elect new council members.
The CCC is not accountable to a local community or any local government. Its members are not elected or recallable. The current LCP process is upside down, with a State Agency and bureaucrats dictating their policy dreams and methods to local government, residents and visitors. Even with a few compromises from the CCC, Malibu will never have the local plan it would normally have nor wish to enforce.
Mr. Damm, why did your key staff member state that the City of Malibu’s draft LCP submitted in 2000 was rejected outright as being “unacceptable” and “would require significant enough changes that Coastal did not have the resources available to review it on a word by word basis?” (3/16/2000 City of Malibu meeting.)
As you know, Mr. Damm, the Malibu LCP draft was the product of thousands of hours of public hearings, volunteer citizen writing, council member input, CCC consultant participation and specific CCC requests for information and revisions. Why was a second edited LCP in July 2001 also the product of public input and hearings summarily rejected?
A reason of time delays by the City should not be accepted. The City of Carmel just wrote and completed its first LCP after more than 20 years of consideration. Los Angeles County has a CCC certified Land Use Plan covering Malibu which has been a useful guide while our new City sorts out its resources, issues and responsibilities. L.A. County still does not have a certified LCP after all these years.
There are many more issues to be dealt with. I am looking forward to the Malibu workshops and, hopefully, to joining with other concerned citizens to work for the adoption of our Malibu democratically created LCP.
Ruth White