City officials say that the Coastal Commission is anti-kid and unfair by trying to prohibit ball fields on land being donated to the city.
By Jonathan Friedman / Special to The Malibu Times
In a controversial move that has city leaders crying foul, the California Coastal Commission is set to address rezoning the 1.75 acres of the Crummer property being donated to the city for parkland from visitor-serving commercial to residential at its meeting next week in Ventura. This would eliminate the property being used for ball fields.
The item has been included in a “revised findings” measure, and confirms a statement made at a February meeting by Peter Douglas, executive director of the Coastal Commission, that the property should designated for passive use.
City officials for years have wanted to build a ball field on the site since the property is located next to Bluffs Park. Site owner Steve Ackerman is offering the piece of land as part of a development agreement with the city that would allow him to build five luxury homes on the 24-acre site.
The coastal staff report states, “The commission also determined that the proposed active recreational use contemplated for the site (baseball field or other active use) would primarily serve the local public rather than the members of the public from a regional or statewide area, and thus, would not maximize public access to the coast.”
The item going before the Coastal Commission is likely a formality and includes the various modifications to the proposal commissioners requested at the February hearing to be put into official language. The commission approved the measure 10-2 in February to change the property zoning in exchange for $2 million that will go to remodel the Topanga Ranch Motel. This makes up for the loss of possible motel/hotel space in the Malibu area had the Crummer site remained commercially zoned. Also, the developer must give seven acres of the land to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, or SMMC.
If the $2 million is not used for the Topanga project within two years, an extension can be made, but the money could also go toward “lower cost overnight visitor accommodations elsewhere in the coastal zone,” according to the staff report. Commissioner Sara Wan, a Malibu resident, suggested at the February hearing that at least a portion of the money go toward the SMMC’s controversial project to build overnight camping sites in Malibu. This could still happen if the money is not used for the Topanga motel because that project is delayed.
City officials are unhappy with the commission’s decision. City Councilmember Andy Stern called it “just another anti-kid vote by the Coastal Commission.” Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich said there are many people on the Coastal Commission who are not active, and are pushing their agenda on others.
“I think it’s a shame that the Coastal Commissioners, because perhaps they cannot be active, are trying to stuff that down to our children’s generation,” Conley Ulich. “The last thing our generation needs is to be in a park with Nintendo. These kids need to have activities.”
She added that it is a discriminatory measure because children in other cities have several ball fields, while Malibu has a limited supply. By not allowing more to be built in Malibu, the local children are not getting an opportunity granted to residents of other cities.
Malibu Planning Manager Joyce Parker-Bozylinski said she did not know if city officials would speak at the coastal hearing next week because the vote is mostly a done deal. But she said once the item is finalized, it will go back to the city council, and then the city could give its official disapproval, possibly seeking a modification to the measure.
“The issue is not one we believe of active versus passive parks, but the concern of the commission is that the park be open to the general public,” Parker-Bozylinski said. “And we believe it is open to the general public, and evidenced of the fact that the general public uses the [Bluffs] park extensively.”
Conley Ulich echoed the planning manager’s comments, saying that Malibu youth sports are open to children in other cities.
Coastal Commission Deputy Director Jack Ainsworth, who was one of the writers of the staff report, did not return several calls for comment. Crummer site owner Ackerman also did not return calls.
Additionally, the commission will not allow a gated entry for the residential community as originally proposed for the site because “it would be inconsistent with the character of the area and would create the perception of an exclusive community.”
The development agreement for the Crummer site is currently under environmental review by a city consultant. Ackerman must go through the full application process. The Coastal Commission vote was only to change the property’s zoning.