Malibu resident, who has been fighting the plans, says he will not oppose the project anymore, although he calls it a “flagrant public nuisance.”
By Jonathan Friedman/Staff Writer
With 22 Malibu West homeowners looking on, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a staff recommendation to go ahead with a project to refurbish the Trancas Water Pollution Control Plant, bringing an end to a long saga.
Malibu Park resident Hans Laetz, who has been a critic of the proposed project, said he would not oppose it any further, although he said he is disappointed with the results.
“It’s not fair to the people involved in this to drag this out any further,” Laetz said. “The people in Malibu West are already paying through the nose for this.”
Laetz had threatened previously to demand an environmental impact report (EIR) for the project, which would have cost about $500,000. The local residents would have had to foot the bill. The county’s public works department has said one is not necessary, because the project would not have any significant environmental impacts. Last year, Laetz fired off a letter to the county, citing 32 specific errors in the county’s initial study for the project, and demanded it be rejected. He argued the fact that he can see the tanks of the facility from his home is a “flagrant public nuisance” and a violation of the state of California’s Environmental Water Quality Control Act. Then, in the summer, he sent another document to the county pointing out problems he saw with the project.
Although he had several supporters who signed his letters to the county, Laetz annoyed many Malibu West residents.
Les Moss, who spoke at the supervisor’s meeting Tuesday, said Laetz had unnecessarily delayed the project. He looked to the fact that the county rejected all of Laetz’s perceived problems with the approved project as proof. He said it was further annoying because the facility being in view of his home was nothing new.
“He bought it with a knowledge that the facility was in his view,” Moss said. “It’s been there for 40 years. Perhaps he should have not bought the house. That is the question. Why would he move there if he didn’t like the view in the first place? It is pretty hard to sympathize with Hans.”
Moss also criticized Laetz for saying he would withdraw his objection to the plan if a fence were built to block the facility.
In its staff report for Tuesday’s meeting, the county’s public works department recommended against the building of the fence because it had received word from the California Coastal Commission in the form of a letter that it was unlikely to grant such a permit, because the fence would be at height that would create adverse impacts to visual resources. The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy (SMMC) also opposed the idea.
Laetz said he had never thought the fence was a good idea anyway, and had preferred that some sort of cover be put up to block the facility from view. He added that he could bring the issue to court, and would win, but he said it was not worth the added stress to the people.
“We’re still going to see some sewage tanks from our living rooms,” he said. “It is not legal and it is not fair. But we don’t want to be obstructionists. That’s not a neighborly thing to do.”
As a mitigation method, the county will grow vegetation, including 49 trees of varying heights to hide the facility. The SMMC and the City of Malibu have sent letters to the county, approving that as a sufficient mitigation. Laetz said the trees and vegetation will not block the facility entirely, and they will not block it at all while the trees are still growing.