Point Dume residents are appealing Planning Commission approval of Barbra Streisand’s 12,000-square-foot mansion they say is completely out of character with its neighborhood.

The project would tear down an existing 3,463-square-foot house and 735-square-foot attached garage on one of three contiguous lots on Zumirez Drive owned by the entertainer, who lives in one of the three bluff-top homes.

The City Council is scheduled to consider and vote on the appeal at its regularly scheduled meeting Dec. 13.

Residents of the Zumirez neighborhood say special waivers were granted by planning staff to allow overbuilding on a small lot and reducing setbacks from an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) on a primary coastal bluff.

This revives a long-standing debate over selective enforcement of development and design standards and whether preferential treatment is given to Malibu celebrities, particularly those who support political campaigns for City Council.

Neighbors appealed Planning Director Craig Ewing’s recommendation to approve the demolition of the existing structures and construction of the new project: a 6,795-square-foot single family residence, with 4,092-square-foot basement, and detached garage, with a 399-square-foot basement. The Planning Commission denied the appeal Oct. 18. Ewing did not return calls Tuesday.

At issue is the manner in which the city’s Property Development and Design Standards were applied, neighbors say. As written, the Neighborhood Standards apply where there are at least 10 developed lots within a 500-foot radius of the subject site located in the same neighborhood.

Opponents say instead of including all the houses within the 500-foot radius, the developer drew a narrow pattern of all bluff-top properties, some with addresses on Cliffside Drive, Gray Fox Road and Wildlife Street, excluding smaller, landside homes on Zumirez that are located within the 500-foot boundary.

Neighbors say all 41 individuals who own properties on Zumirez Drive have common deeded ownership of the neighborhood beach dating back to the 1940s, when this was the first neighborhood formed on Point Dume.

The three lots and two adjoining lots owned by others on the Zumirez cul-de-sac are surrounded by the neighborhood beach property, which includes a road and beach access easement.

The redrawing of the “neighborhood” to include bluff-top homes on other streets translates to higher average densities, allowing the applicant to justify greater height, bulk and square footage.

The average living space per acre is 2,584-square-feet for the properties within a 500-foot radius, according to calculations set out in the appeal. The applicant’s proposal would be more than 400 percent above that average, opponents say.

Neighbors are also concerned about protection of the bluffs and waiver of the 100-foot setback required for the ESHA. The Environmental Review Board made a special condition to reduce the setback to 64 feet, at its closest point to the main structure, which includes the large basement. The ERB considered it was important to include the basement into the total square footage allowed on the site, but the Planning Commission removed this special condition by amendment at its Oct. 18 hearing.

Neighbors say allowing such a large basement in close proximity to a primary bluff is an unacceptable risk. Water runs year round from the base of the bluffs, which “should alert us it is unreasonable to increase the density of allowed development,” wrote Eric Jacobson in his Oct. 25 letter to the City Council. Jacobson’s home is adjacent to the subject property.

The original design for the main structure also exceeded the allowed proportion for second stories, which is a maximum two thirds of the ground floor. Architect Robert Shachtman reportedly has adjusted the plans to accommodate this provision. Shachtman refused to comment on the project Tuesday.

The warmth and generosity longed for in the holiday season were nowhere more evident than at Malibu United Methodist Church on Thanksgiving, where 130 homeless and needy were served a traditional turkey feast by members of the Malibu interfaith community.

Workers from the Malibu Labor Exchange and their families, and clients of Portals and Di Di Hirsh mental healthcare facilities received bus tokens to attend the dinner from transportation coordinators Chuck and Dorothy Green.

For the first time in its three-year history, clothing distribution was added to the celebration. Teens from the youth groups of Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue and from Malibu Methodist coordinated the drive. Malibu Girl Scout and Brownie troops tirelessly sorted the items on the day of the event.

Attendees dined on placemats crafted by youngsters from Malibu Methodist Preschool and from Children’s Creative Workshop. Sheryl Sher rounded up decorations and supplies and coordinated the feast of family recipes. To ensure that service of the roasted bird, moist stuffing and delectable gravies went smoothly, Michael Wilson supervised onsite.

Janet Ettinger came aboard the effort early to enlist the many volunteers who gave of their time. Vocalist Lovia Pitts and pianist Ted Cannon opened the entertainment portion of the program. Magician Benjamin Hoffman cast a spell on young and old alike. The sounds of jazz saxophonist and keyboardist Steve Cole filled hearts.

Cannon accompanied the real crowd pleaser, a group of young girls who performed a wand-dancing routine. When entertainers began “God Bless America,” the assembly stood up, hands on hearts, and joined in song. With tears in his eyes, one elderly man said, “I wish we could do this more often.”

Event coordinator Diane Malecha, who founded the charitable celebration, contacted outside organizations in Los Angeles and Ventura counties to invite those in need. Cleaning the kitchen after dinner with volunteers Susie Duff and Sieglinde Swerdlow, Malecha urged this reporter, “Make sure they know I didn’t do it alone! There are so many wonderful people to thank.”

In the ongoing soap opera that is the long-running legal and political battle over the Paradise Cove Mobilehome Park rent control ordinance among the city of Malibu, some of the tenant coach owners and park owner Kissel Company, a court has once again intervened and slapped down the city.

In a notice of intended decision, Judge Lorna Parnell, who heard the most recent case in the Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica, indicated she was going to rule in favor of the Kissel Company because “the city’s proceeding in this matter was unjustified, unfair and clearly prejudicial to the petitioner [the Kissel Company].”

The city of Malibu Rent Stabilization Commission, which some argue is heavily stacked in favor of the tenant coach owners, had turned down the Kissel Company’s application for any rent increase, and Kissel sued.

After hearing the case, in what was perhaps a telling indication of her thinking, the judge indicated this was not the first litigation between the parties, then quoted some of the pertinent findings in the earlier, federal case, in which a federal judge found part of the Malibu rent control ordinance to be unconstitutional and ultimately rendered a decision that cost the city more than $2 million. Referring to the earlier judge’s opinion that made note of the “city’s intransigence” and its desire to please the tenants of the mobilehome park, whom it referred to as a “large and very vocal voting constituency in the city,” Parnell said, “It is against this backdrop that the present matter is considered.”

She then held the city misconstrued and/or misapplied the law in several significant respects. She also found the city disregarded its own rules and considered evidence that was not admissible under its own rules, evidence that the court said was both untimely and based on unsworn written statement by tenants.

What happens next, after the judgment is finalized, assuming the judge doesn’t change her mind, is that the city has the option of appealing to a higher court or sending the matter back to the Rent Stabilization Commission for further hearings consistent with the judge’s opinion.

The city could even sit down across the table from the Kissel Company and attempt to work out some acceptable compromises and end this state of constant warfare that seems to exist in the mobilehome park, although that is considered by most to be highly improbable.

Whatever they decide to do, the battle is far from over, but this opinion sounds a loud, cautionary note that the Malibu rent control ordinance and its application will be carefully and somewhat skeptically scrutinized by the courts.

In addition to this case, there are several other ongoing cases growing out of the Paradise Cove Mobilehome Park disputes.

There is presently a criminal case being tried in Judge Lawrence Mira’s Malibu court in which the Kissel Company is being prosecuted for alleged violations of the environmental laws for failures in the park’s septic system. The defense is just beginning the presentation of its case.

In another civil case, a number of the tenant coach owners are suing the Kissel Company for damages for alleged failure to maintain the park properly. It’s set for trial in January 2000.

In still another case, the Kissel Company is suing the city, asking the court to declare the city in breach of the settlement agreement that was signed several years ago to settle the earlier federal rent control case. If the Kissel Company is successful in that one, there possibly could be damages, said to exceed $1 million plus attorney’s fees.

As they have for many years, the Malibu clergy conducted a Malibu Community Thanksgiving Service. This year, the locale for the 10 a.m. Thanksgiving morning service was the chapel at Pepperdine University, with its breathtaking stained-glass wall behind the pulpit.

Participating in the service were Rev. Ken Durham, Church of Christ at Pepperdine University, Monsignor John Sheridan and Father Bill Kerze, of Our Lady of Malibu, Rabbi Judith HaLevy, Malibu Jewish Center & Synagogue, Patti Mehring, First Church of Christ Scientist-Malibu, Rev. Karen Greschel, Malibu Presbyterian Church, Rev. Larry Peacock, Malibu United Methodist Church, and Rev. Susan Klein, Saint Aidan’s Episcopal Church. The song leader was Glen Webb, and the soloists Jeanine Metz and Sherry Woodruff.

After the service, as has been the Malibu tradition, a Thanksgiving dinner for people in need was offered at noon at the Malibu United Methodist Church.