Councilmember Andy Stern says the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy is behind added language to the Malibu LCP amendment proposed by the city.
By Jonathan Friedman / Assistant Editor
City Councilmember Andy Stern at Monday’s council meeting accused the California Coastal Commission staff of breaching its agreement with the city because of one of the adjustments it is recommending to the commission voting body on Malibu’s proposed Local Coastal Program amendment.
Earlier this year, the city, as part of an agreement with the Coastal Commission staff, submitted several proposed changes to the Malibu LCP. The Coastal Commission staff recommend this month that the voting body not approve the amendment unless it supports some adjustments to it, with one being that the Coastal Commission staff wants the definition of a regional park added to the document, something city officials had said previously they did not want.
“If coastal is holding this back and saying, ‘We won’t give you any amendments unless you allow the [regional] park,’ I just think that’s a bad way to play the game,” Stern said.
Stern said in a Tuesday interview that there was no deal that the Coastal Commission staff would recommend adding items to the Malibu LCP, but rather the deal was that Malibu could propose changes and the Coastal Commission staff would decide whether to recommend its voting body approve them. He said the Coastal Commission staff’s actions were in violation of its agreement with the city, and further blamed the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy of working behind the scenes to get the item added to the LCP amendment.
Late last year, the Malibu Planning Commission recommended language be included in the LCP amendment that defined a regional park as a place where special, prearranged events could take place, as recommended by the SMMC. This angered Ramirez Canyon property owners because they believed it was an attempt by the SMMC to get around the property owners’ legal battle with the conservancy about holding events at the SMMC-owned Ramirez Park. In response, the City Council did not include the definition for a regional park in the LCP amendment it submitted to the Coastal Commission.
SMMC Executive Director Joe Edmiston said in a Tuesday interview that the conservancy had nothing to do with the Coastal Commission staff adding the regional park language.
“We actually don’t like the language the Coastal Commission has provided,” Edmiston said. “The language that they have would give the city veto power over the creation of parks. We think that’s inappropriate for a local government.”
Coastal Commission staff members did not return calls for comment.
After the Coastal Commission staff made its recommendation on the LCP amendment, the city asked that the item not go before the commission voting body this month, as was scheduled. City planners are reviewing the recommendation, and the amendment proposal could go before the Coastal Commission for a vote in October.
Meanwhile, City Attorney Christi Hogin said at Monday’s meeting that she heard mediation between the SMMC and Ramirez Canyon property owners over their conflict went well last Friday (although the city was not involved in the mediation), and that another mediation session is scheduled to take place on Monday. Steve Amerikaner, the attorney for the Ramirez Canyon Preservation Fund, which represents Ramirez Canyon homeowners, said at the meeting that he was hopeful for a resolution, and thanked the city for supporting the homeowners’ view.
Edmiston said on Tuesday he could not comment on the mediation because both parties were told not to talk to the media about it.
Also at Monday’s council meeting, City Manager Jim Thorsen announced that the city had received the $2.5 million grant from the State Water Resources Control Board for its Chili Cook-Off site purchase. The city had been forced to front the money from its General Fund while it waited to receive the grant money.