We recently received a “Stop Crummer” flyer on our doorstep. This is the last straw!
Who has the right to dictate the use of private property? Apparently the powers that be in Malibu do. Should an owner who purchases land for specific use, pays good money, follows all the rules and regulations, and meets all of the code regulations be able to use their own land? Is this the people’s republic of Malibu and we, in essence, confiscate the properties so they cannot be developed?
The endless harassment of property owners in the form of demands, fees, revisions, rejection of the revisions, demands for more compliance, more fees and development costs is in actuality a contrived method to prohibit an owner from building. There is a breech of good faith, allowing owners to pay costs with no intent of allowing the development.
The xenophobia in Malibu has been evident to me since the early ‘70s when we were considering purchasing a lot and building a home. We became aware of the stalling efforts, high costs to try to develop and overall difficulty in trying to build here.
In the 1970s, the Adamson sisters wanted to build a hotel akin to the Bel Air Hotel. They encountered the usual contrived system of blocking the project. Now, another development group has been attempting to do the same. Are we really so exclusive that a low-rise hotel with sorely needed amenities would ruin the community? Bel Air has no such problem. As far as I can determine, the project is not a Motel 6 of a 30-story high-rise tower hotel. The projected plans are in keeping with the community and non-invasive.
One of the objections that has been raised in essence lamented the destruction of the natural terrain. Ask your local fire department if dry brush and chaparral, conducive to spreading fire, is preferred to landscaped and watered grounds.
Another stalled project is the Whole Foods Market, planned to be centrally located at the village. Our chain market sells stale bakery goods, does not have a working meat grinder and apparently does not care. The management is indifferent and non-responsive, all the way up to corporate headquarters.
Doris Felts