At this week’s Planning Commission meeting, Commissioner Les Moss used his position to attack former Planning Commissioner Jo Ruggles for writing a letter to the editor in which she expressed her concerns regarding the current state of the planning process in the City of Malibu. He also questioned the validity of the long standing Malibu Park Homeowners Association when it and its president Marshall Thompson presented their appeal of a 16,000 square foot mansion and requested the retention of a long standing horse trail on the property. An appeal like the one presented took many hours of work by members of the association and the Malibu Park Homeowners Association has every right to express its concerns about the mansionization and loss of the rural character of their neighborhood. It is a shame that the City of Malibu tries its best to make the appeal process as difficult as possible since it seems to be the only route left for neighborhoods like Malibu Park to express their concerns.
Commissioners Pete Anthony and Regan Schaar, to their credit, did attempt to seriously address the issues involved and genuinely seemed to understand that the issue at hand was planning. They have a lot to learn about our general plan and complicated codes but at least they are giving it their best effort. Commissioner Moss would be well served by following their example.
John Mazza