City tries to prevent a repeat of last year’s Independence Day fiasco
By Judy Abel
Special to The Malibu Times
Malibu officials and residents will be keeping a close eye on Nobu Malibu on July 4. This in an effort to prevent a repeat of last year’s massive traffic jam, the result of an unpermitted event at the celebrity-filled eatery. Barring naturaldisaster, last year’s debacle was arguably the worst traffic snarl in Malibu’s history, when an already-busy PCH was brought to a near-standstill by party-bus and limousine drivers who abandoned their vehicles on the center median and elsewhere in order to get their guests to an advertised event not cleared with the city.
More than 700 people overcrowded the restaurant’s roughly 130 capacity, a safety hazard that also caught the attention of fire authorities. Traffic was backed up for hours in both directions, raising the ire of Malibu’s Safety Commission and others concerned that emergency vehicles would not be able to reach ill or injured citizens and infuriated by the restaurant’s general disregard for the local community.
Last year’s flagrant code violations resulted in total fees and fines to the high-grossing business of $821 — less than the cost of a dinner for four. At the time, city staff refused to divulge the amount of the fine to the press, and a public records act request was needed to force its disclosure to the Malibu citizenry.
This year, as required, Nobu applied for and was granted a Temporary Use Permit (TUP) with the city. An appeal can be filed, but as of June 13, no such appeal had been recorded.
The 2024 TUP was issued to Nobu because, according to a memo received by The Malibu Times from the City of Malibu Planning Department, “under the City Code, each TUP must be reviewed as a stand-alone application, and it cannot be denied based on a previous TUP at the same location. The LA County District Attorney informed the Planning Director that there were no formal complaints made against the Nobu property owner in the last 24 months, soPlanning couldn’t deny it outright, under the City Code.”
The Malibu Times reviewed the relevant code sections, and was unable to locate the basis for the city’s above assertion.Municipal Code Section 17.68.060 provides that the director “may approve a temporary use permit application; provided, that all the following findings of fact are made…,” including that there be no complaints filed with the D.A.’soffice within 24 months. However, the Planning Department seems to be interpreting the code provision that it “may” approve a TUP so long as various conditions are met to mean that it is required to issue a permit so long as those conditions are met. This interpretation seems unsupported by the plain language of the code, which uses permissive (may) and not mandatory (shall) language throughout.
The code also requires that the Planning Director make certain findings prior to issuing a permit; however, the TUP was approved “pending” further submissions as to an updated parking and site plan and approvals by the Fire Department and Sheriff’s Department. The approval of the Planning Director was issued June 10, the deadline under the municipal code (which requires a decision no later than 24 days prior to the proposed use), despite the fact that these additional required submissions were pending. There is nothing in the code that contemplates such conditional approvals. Instead, the code requires “a decision” 24 days prior to the proposed use and further requires that the application for the TUP“shall include” an “Agency approval sheet, signed by all the agencies.” It does not appear the TUP application had approvals from the Fire Department or Sheriff’s Department, given that those approvals were still pending on June 10 when the Planning Department issued the TUP. The approval of an incomplete application may have resulted from Nobu’s decision to submit its application on or close to the deadline, despite this being an annual event with many months of prior planning.
Nobu’s July 4 event is invitation-only and not open to the public. And in typical Nobu fashion, those invitees will be shielded by privacy hedges in order to keep the public at bay. The TUP application states the attendance is capped at 250 with guests who will arrive and depart from a shuttle site in Santa Monica. The only exception is for an unknown number of VIP guests (the number is not identified in the permit approval) who will be allowed to be dropped off and picked up at the restaurant site. A Sheriff’s Department officer will be on site to monitor compliance and address trash, parking, and overcrowding concerns, as well as to ensure no traffic lanes are blocked. Guests will not be allowed to walk to the restaurant and must be shuttled in or on the VIP guest list. Rideshares will not be allowed for pickup or drop-off, presumably to be enforced by the no walk-in requirement.
The officer on scene will also be monitoring noise levels at Nobu during the event from 4 to 11 p.m., plus setup and breakdown. According to the TUP: “If any agent of the city requests that the noise level be reduced, event participants shall ensure immediate compliance.”
In addition to a law enforcement presence on site, the TUP indicates a City Code Enforcement employee will monitor the event population at specified intervals throughout the duration of the event for adherence to the stated maximum of 250 participants. The TUP states: “If applicant is shown to violate terms of this permit, the applicant will pay a $5,000 fine to be collected by the city.” High-end sponsorships of the event were sold by Nobu to companies wanting to connect with the restaurant’s upscale clientele. With city staff stating it had no legal basis to deny the issuance of a permit for the event, the threat of minimal fines makes compliance with the TUP’s restrictions essentially voluntary.
Chris Frost, chair of Malibu’s Safety Commission, said, “I think based on what happened last year there, which was a complete s***show, they should have denied the permit this year. I think they’ve been catered to way too much over the last five or six years. That Fourth of July party there is what I call an attractive nuisance.”