With three weeks left until the vote on Measure W, The Malibu Times continues to dig into what a “yes” or “no” vote means for the development of the 5.88-acre lot at the corner of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road.
Part two of the four-part series leading up to the Nov. 3 election focuses on the technical — what does it mean to say you’re “voting on a Whole Foods?”
In simple terms, according to Malibu City Attorney Christi Hogin, “without Measure W, no Whole Foods will be allowed in Malibu but, Measure W alone is not going to produce the Whole Foods.”
Here’s how it works:
Measure R, the ballot measure approved by voters in November of last year, states that specific plans for all development over 20,000 square feet must be approved by a popular vote. A specific plan dictates exactly what standards and uses are allowed in a development. In this case, uses like hotels have been excluded, while grocery stores and retail have been included. The specific plan also stipulates very minute details of a development, like its parking, landscaping and hours of operation.
“Measure R basically created this ability for the people to create a plan, and any uses for this property going forward would be consistent with this plan,” Hogin explained.
As Hogin said, “Measure W alone is not going to produce the Whole Foods;” however, she went on: “you also need a coastal development permit (CDP) and a developer willing to exercise those rights. The City [Council] has approved the CDP but that’s subject to the passage of Measure W.”
So, the CDP is what specifies the development will be a Whole Foods.
The CDP will be triggered by a “yes” vote on Measure W.
Hogin went so far as to describe the debate as “hair splitting.”
“It’s one of those things that’s a theoretical matter rather than a practical matter,” Hogin went on to say. “The applicant told the city during the hearing that their intent is to build a Whole Foods, and they showed their plans.”
In addition, developers The Park at Cross Creek, LLC, headed by Steve Soboroff, provided a signed copy of their Whole Foods lease to The Malibu Times in September 2014. Months later, in July 2015, Whole Foods executives appeared at the Whole Foods Environmental Impact Report hearing during the July 20 Malibu City Council meeting.
“We at Whole Foods remain committed to constructing and opening a grocery store down at the intersection of Civic Center Way and Cross Creek Road,” Erica Dubreuil, Vice President of Operations for Southern Pacific Region of Whole Foods Market, told council.