Save Malibu, the team behind the “Your Malibu, Your Decision” ballot initiative, opened up this week about an ongoing bid to place more power in the hands of residents when it comes to new large-scale development projects in Malibu.
In their first interview since the ballot initiative was proposed, Rob and Michele Reiner said their decision to fund the initiative stemmed from an evolution they have witnessed over the past few decades, along with input from longtime community members.
“What we’re trying to do is give some power to the residents of Malibu so that any piece of land, any new commercial development over 20,000 feet, has to be put in front of the voters, that the voters will have a say,” said Rob Reiner, a successful actor and director known for his role in the ’70s sitcom “All in the Family” and for directing hit films like “The Princess Bride” and “This Is Spinal Tap.”
He and Michele Reiner have also long been involved in the local, state and national political scenes. They intervened to help stop a major development project at Ahmanson Ranch in 2003, were proponents of Proposition 10 in 1998 and led a legal challenge of the Prop. 8 anti-gay marriage law in California. The statewide Prop. 10 created a 50-cent tax on tobacco products and funded the First Five program for pre-K children in California. Prop. 10 has generated $600 million in annual revenue for the state. Prop. 8 was overturned in a 2013 Supreme Court decision.
In an interview with The Malibu Times, the Reiners, who have been in Malibu for 40 years, were also joined by attorney James Harrison and political consultant Felix Schein.
Their latest effort, the “Your Malibu, Your Decision” ballot initiative, would subject major shopping center development and commercial or mixed use construction over 20,000 square feet to a citywide vote — if the project has received discretionary approvals from the city. It would also place a 30 percent limit on the number of chain stores permitted to operate in Malibu shopping centers. “Essential” services such as groceries, banks and medical offices are excluded, among others. In existing shopping centers, the 30 percent limit would apply to spaces under 1,400 square feet.
The Reiners argue Malibu’s commercial landscape lacks “any kind of design” and is “running wild.”
“We just feel we’re trying to protect as many places as we can,” he said.
They worry the city is headed down a path to over-development and commercialization, but believe this initiative could be the tipping point for residents to have a say in the future of their town.
“If you look at Carmel-by-the- Sea [in Northern California] as an example, they planned what the place was supposed to look like. On a going-forward basis, we want this place to look like a seaside town,” Rob Reiner said. He also cited the newly opened Trancas Country Market Center as a good fit in Malibu’s inherently rural character.
The city’s elected officials, local developers and major landholders have remained silent since the initiative was introduced.
Each of the city council members was briefed “a number of times” on the initiative before it hit public airwaves, Schein said, but none of them has stepped forward to publicly support the initiative.
“We welcome their participation,” Harrison added.
When asked if they believe the city might place its own ballot initiative on the November ballot in a political maneuver to possibly confuse voters, Harrison said it would be risky on the city’s part, given that Save Malibu submitted 2,300 petition signatures to the city on May 6, surpassing the number necessary by nearly 1,000. The signatures, currently being validated by City Clerk Lisa Pope’s office, were gathered in Malibu in just over two weeks.
“Council would be well-advised to take note of that,” Harrison said.
When asked if there had been any discussion among city staff or council of drafting its own initiative, City Manager Jim Thorsen said, “No, absolutely not.”
Requests for comment to Civic Center landholders for the Malibu Country Mart and Malibu Village were not returned, but many of them have been critical in the past of laws regulating chain stores. When the Malibu City Council considered a similar proposal last year, attorneys for developers and landowners blasted the idea, arguing that regulating the type of chain stores/formula businesses allowed in Malibu would violate the Federal Commerce Clause, which prohibits “economic protectionism — that is, regulatory measures designed to benefit in-state economic interests by burdening out-of-state competitors.”