The California Coastal Commission rejected the application that sought to build four luxury homes on parcels atop Sweetwater Mesa, one of which is owned by U2 guitarist The Edge. One applicant pulled the request to build minutes before the commission voted last week.
By Knowles Adkisson / The Malibu Times
The quest by U2 guitarist The Edge, as well as his family and friends, to build several luxury estates in the hills of Malibu has hit its latest, and largest, snag. Following an all-day hearing in Marina del Rey Thursday last week, the California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 to reject the controversial proposal to build four luxury homes on 156 acres on contiguous parcels of land overlooking Serra Canyon, as well as a 6,010 foot access road extending from Sweetwater Mesa Road. An application for a fifth home that was part of the original proposal was pulled by its owner a few minutes before the commission voted on it.
Commission staff earlier this month recommended denial of coastal development permits for the project by The Edge, whose real name is David Evans, and his family and friends in Malibu.
Staff had said the project would result in significant visual impacts and that it would significantly disrupt the local vegetative habitat. The commission followed its staff’s advice.
“In 38 years of the commission’s existence, this is one of the three worst projects that I’ve seen in terms of environmental devastation,” Peter Douglas, the Coastal Commission’s executive director, told the Los Angeles Times after the vote. “It’s a contradiction in terms-you can’t be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location given the effects on habitat, land formation, scenic views and water quality.”
That statement drew a sharp rebuke from Fiona Hutton, whose public relations firm represents the applicants. Hutton wrote in an email to the media Friday, “Frankly, we’re outraged by this decision and the inflammatory statements of Coastal Commission staff, given we had worked collaboratively with them for the past four years and they had previously recommended approval of 60 separate applications for homes with the same size footprint and in the same habitat area, raising serious questions about this decision and its motivation.”
Hutton was still angry about the statement on Tuesday, calling Douglas’ statement “absurd” and “factually incorrect” in an interview with The Malibu Times.
Mark Gold, president of environmental group Heal the Bay, echoed Hutton’s point of view on his blog Friday. Gold praised the commission’s decision to reject the project, which he wrote, “Would have substantially damaged an environmentally sensitive habitat area,” but he said he disagreed with Douglas’ characterization.
“Although we raised concerns about The Edge’s proposed development, I disagree with Douglas’ statement on its scale relative to the projects considered by the commission through history,” Gold wrote.
There has been speculation about whether Evans and his associates will file a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission. Following the vote, Douglas told the Los Angeles Times he expected the matter to end up in court.
Hutton said her clients had not yet decided whether to file a lawsuit against the Coastal Commission, although “it’s still one of the options.” Other options include resubmitting new plans to the commission, Hutton said.
The owners had originally proposed to build five large estates-three exceeding 12,000 square feet, and two smaller ones of approximately 8,000 and 7,000 square feet-on separate parcels on 156-acres. In addition to environmental concerns, staff had branded the project a “coordinated development scheme,” i.e., one owner (Evans) with the intent to build five houses and sell them at a profit. The owners of the properties are all either friends, family or business associates of Evans. Hutton has previously rejected the commission’s characterization of the project, stating the owners do not want to sell the houses but to live in them.
The commission’s vote invalidates a controversial agreement reached between the property owners and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. The conservancy voted to drop its opposition to the project in April in exchange for $1 million in donations, as well as consulting work and a slew of conservations and development restrictions on the homes that would allow for the construction of a trail through the property in the future.
Critics of the deal charged that the owners of the project had effectively bought off the SMMC, while SMMC head Joe Edmiston countered that the donations would be valuable and beneficial for future users of the trail. However, the deal was contingent on the Coastal Commission approving the project.