Malibu City Council holds special meeting, goes into detail about the landscape for the skatepark plan
Concerns about trees, bushes, and branches were raised at the Special City Council meeting on Monday night regarding the Permanent Skatepark at Malibu Bluffs Park. Although the project was approved by the Planning Commission on Nov. 30, 2023, the project continues to hit speed bumps along the way.
At that meeting, over a dozen speakers signed up to thank the city for the temporary skatepark but urged the planning commission to approve the permanent project and request for no more delays. Despite hearing excited and hopeful remarks about the project moving forward, City Manager Steve McClary announced the appeal at the following city council meeting.
The project has hit many hurdles in the last year; for instance, during the Environmental Review Board on Oct. 11, 2023, concerns in regards to wildlife, ESHA, and noise complaints were raised by certain board members.
Since then, skaters, parents of child skaters, and advocates have attended every city meeting in hopes of the project to begin construction.
At the Planning Commission on Nov. 30, mother and skatepark advocate Heather Gardner showed a video made in 2019 where the kids (now in high school) thanked the City of Malibu for building their temporary skatepark. Gardner has been speaking at every meeting that involves the skatepark.
“I am here now just very frustrated and I don’t know what to do with that,” Gardner said. “It’s really in your hands now. I am in a loss for words because I am kind of sick of it; I’ve looked at probably seven or eight different city council groupings and have done this with my kids for way too long. This is kind of sad, we should all be ashamed of this.”
Gardner was at the last City Council meeting, where councilmembers had a heated discussion about the appeal. Gardner said she was unable to watch the meeting in person and left but was shocked with the lack of professionalism the council showed.
“I left and I had to go home and then I saw even more drama going on; this needs to be done professionally,” Gardner said. “I feel like it’s never going to end … try to be unified please.”
Gardner thanked the council for resolving the Malibu Marlins issue and hopes the council can do the same for the skatepark.
“You guys fixed that problem so fast, and it really encouraged me, ‘Look at what our City Council can do,’ but then I’m here going, ‘I’ve been doing this for 10 years’ — it’s very discouraging,” Gardner said. “So please give us something good to talk about.”
The Malibu City Council organized a special public open hearing on Monday, March 4, to hear the settlement proposal. Councilmembers asked city staff and skatepark designers remaining questions about the project and their concerns with the appeal.
City Attorney Trevor Rusin was asked if there was a reason for recusal from any councilmember who would have any connection to this project, to which he said no, there was no conflict of interest from any councilmembers for this project.
Mayor Steve Uhring motioned to wait until Monday’s City Council meeting to approve the settlement; the motion failed.
“To me, the most secure way of making sure the skatepark gets built as quickly as possible, is going to our next meeting, doing the appeal, and deciding where that comes out,” Uhring said. “My motion would be is, let’s not sign this tonight, let’s do the appeal next and decide with the settlement agreement after we figure out what the answer to that is.”
After discussion, the settlement agreement was approved without changes. Motioned passed. The city is working on getting a more detailed statement on the item for the public. The next City Council meeting is on Monday, March 11.