Last week, I presented an alternative plan for Trancas Park, which was accepted by neighbors, architects, and the city council as being a substantially better design, one that fit the mountain site rather than redesigning the mountain to fit the park, while probably saving 30 percent of the costs or over $1,000,000. It was another sad process to witness. There was hardly any discussion by the council on the comparison or merits of the two plans. One of the few specific questions asked was what I was paid ($2,500 or 20 percent of what we spent), as if that somehow made a difference. The council also seemed to be fixated on whether the redesign included a large portion of the neighborhood, which it obviously did with the input for redesign coming out of the April 23rd workshop, which was itemized early on in the staff report. The only thing stopping the plan from being approved was further vetting with the community, a process which would add a month, but a revised plan which would have saved three to four or more months of construction time as well as cost as the 38,000 cubic yards of grading would be substantially eliminated, there would be no retaining walls, and the city wouldn’t be adopting an ongoing liability with a detention basin 5 feet above the southerly neighbor’s yard, amongst other problems.
The Malibu council, planning commission and professional staff should have egg on their collective faces for allowing a plan to proceed through the city’s process that had as many flaws as this plan has. But it’s the city council that ultimately has the say and the responsibility for this. They must just be tired of dealing with this. Short of saving face, there really is no reason that an alternative plan substantially improved in design and substantially less costly would not merit more substantive discussion. To use a common vernacular, the alternative plan was a “no-brainer,” only requiring common sense, but that seems to be a commodity in short supply. It’s a shame to see the community won’t get the best possible design and save $1 million in the process, especially when they are faced with a $700,000 shortfall from recent state measures not approved. Any community, Malibu included, deserves much better.
Ron Goldman
P.S. Although the city has approved the engineer’s plan to date and is probably contractually responsible for any changes at this point, the engineering firm should accept moral responsibility for creating such a flawed plan and hopefully offer to correct it at their expense (wishful thinking).