The Malibu Township Council Board again urges the City of Malibu not to approve new overnight trail campsites in Charmlee or Corral Canyon Parks as proposed by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. To approve requested campsites is to become a party to creating an extreme, unnecessary safety hazard for the entire community. Both parks and most of Malibu are in a very high fire hazard zone. The Corral fire (estimated cost $100M) demonstrates that night use of park areas, legal or illegal, is extremely dangerous to the community. The city needs to eliminate as many sources of fire as possible.
Campers will be allowed to use propane cook stoves which produce a flame. The Conservancy admits in the Ramirez Evacuation Plan “camping cook stoves and lanterns … could potentially be a source of fire ignition should such items be dropped…” The State has admitted they do not have enough rangers to patrol the parkland now in use. “Camp hosts” will not have police power to enforce rules, making enforcement impossible.
There is no fire evacuation plan for the community if a fire starts in one of these parks. Fire could reach residents in minutes. This violates Sec. 30253 and 30210 of the Coastal Act which requires development to be consistent with public safety. The recent ruling in the Santa Monica Farmers Market case determined that a city can be sued for death and/or injury to persons and property based on the agency’s failure to provide adequate safety measures.
Both parks are confirmed to be in ESHAs. The Council’s assertion that camping is currently allowed in these parks is not correct. Camping is not allowed in ESHA.
Malibu City Council Policy #15 states in part, “The general welfare of the City’s residents shall always be considered as primary to any special interests.” There is no evident benefit to city residents to offset the extreme fire hazard that will be created if overnight campers are allowed in this fire zone. A National Parks list shows there are enough campsites in the Malibu vicinity to accommodate 1300 people.
In Sept. 1998, when the City Council accepted ownership of Charmlee Park, they unanimously accepted a deed restriction which limits use to passive recreation such as nature observation, and coastal habitat conservation, and prohibits improvements such as those required for the campsites. The City owns this park and no state agency can allow camping.
Malibu Township Council President Jefferson Wagner