9 Foot Waves and 8 Foot High Tides Expected By Thursday

Very high tides and very large waves are expected in the next few days along the Malibu coast.

Lunar high tides of 8 feet plus are likely … each morning.

High tides are tomorrow at 7:36 a-m … Wednesday at 8:21 On top of that … high surf … to 9 feet is expected on west facing beaches tomorrow night into Thursday afternoon. 

The 9 foot waves and 8 foot high tides may be the biggest impact at high tide … at about … 9:07 Thursday.

 

Super League Triathlon Loses City Concession, Michael Epstein Will Return As Malibu Triathlon Permit Holder

Super League Triathlon has been shown the exit door from Malibu Triathlon.

The Malibu city council last night awarded the exclusive contract to use PCH in September to Michael Epstein … the Malibu resident who essentially founded the event decades ago.

And the smaller Malibu Marathon was awarded to a company that used to run it … led by a woman who spends much of the year in her native Italy … over a family that lives in Malibu. 

Epstein cashed out several years ago … and eventually an international company ended up running the event.

The Triathlon is big money … Epstein said he could not reveal how big … how much money his private outfit will be taking in from the race run on public streets. 

The smaller Malibu Marathon also had two competing groups … made up of splinters from the original charity that began the November 5-K race … also on PCH.

Last night … the city council voted to eliminate Super League Triathlon and award the triathlon to Epstein and his Zuma Beach Foundation. 

City council member Marianne Riggins said Michael Epstein could run a better one-day Triathlon than the messy two day affairs that Super League had out on in the last two years.

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“The Zuma Foundation’s presentation… I liked that it was locally based here, Despite him, Michael Epstein, selling the race …  he still had another race that he was doing so there was still a continuation of the activities. 

“Plus, I’m confident he’ll be able to produce such a race and have it successful. I like that it was a one day race instead.”

Malibu Moves … founded by Malibu local Erica Segal … lost out as well. 

That one was a 4 to 1 vote … withy Riggins dissenting. 

 

City Council Finally Passes ADU Ordinances Allowing Kitchens In Second Units, But Drops 2-Roads Out Rule

The controversial measure to change the city’s Coastal Plan … to allow ADUs … Auxiliary Dwelling Units … was approved and sent the Coastal Commission.

It was a divided city council … again.

Three votes for … two votes against.

Council member Steve Uhring and Bruce Silverstein wanted ADUs banned on streets that don’t have two exits to major arterial streets. 

But requiring two exit streets would effectively ban ADUs in 85 percent of the city.

Councilmember Doug Stewart: 

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85 percent of the locations in Malibu would not be permitted to have an aDU and that violates the intentions of the state law and has been turned down everywhere else.

“So it’s superfluous for anyone to bring it up right now.”

For his part .. Uhring argued that five major Malibu neighborhoods … each with only one way one or out from PCH …. Should not have ADUs.

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“The residents of Big Rock, Rambla, Corral Canyon, Principio and Trancas … so there are five different areas that everybody agrees are a dangerous area if you you have a fire, and we’ve ignored all of those.

“I think that’s wrong. So I’m voting no and I’m sorry that I am presiding over a council that places the money that can be made from ADUs over the safety of our residents.”

Steve Uhring’s comment visibly angered council member Marianne Riggins.

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“This continuing attack on certain members of the council … that because we want to adhere to the laws on our general plan, our municipal code and our Local Coastal Plan, as being pro-development, has really got to stop. It’s causing divisions within this council, and I personally find it offensive to think that just because I want to follow the rules and laws of our community, that on some means I am being pro development.” 

She pointed out that city rules already allow second units on lots in those five neighborhoods … and that the only real change was complying with state laws promoting ADUs … 

The Malibu ADU policy now goes to the Coastal Commission for ratification. 

 

SCE Official Tells Untruths To City Council, But Reveals Secret Plan To Put Power Lines Underground, Maybe

It was billed as an explanation from Southern California Edison to the city council last night … an explanation about the frequent wind-related power outages … and what the power company was doing to end them.

But the Southern California Edison government affairs official delivered “I don’t know” and “I will have to find out” repeatedly last night … unable to answer basic questions about power blackouts. 

Edison sent a government affairs manager … Andrew Thomas … to the city  council meeting to answer questions.

Questions like … how does Malibu compare to other cities in the number and duration of power outages

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“The 2020 reliability report was delivered to the city earlier this year. It showed the average duration or minutes of outages had decreased over previous years and the frequency of outages were decreasing year-by-year.”

That was one of several times that the Edison manager sidestepped the truth.

What Thomas did not disclose was that the Edison reliability report shows Malibu Malibu has significantly more power outages … that lasts significantly longer… than the systemwide Edison average.

In 2022 … Malibu suffered blackouts at a rate three times more often than the SCE systemwide average … 

And those blackouts lasted twice the duration in Malibu … than the systemwide average … which by the way isn’t all that good to begin with.

Some circuits in Malibu … get blackouts at a rate that is 7 times worse than the SCE average.

So while it may be getting better … the quality of electric service in Malibu is atrocious to start with.

Thomas even started out with an untruth … when he talked about PSPS .. Public Safety Power Shutoffs.   

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“PSPS are inconvenient and nobody likes to experience them, and we do all we can to avoid them. But they are necessary, and at times legislated, interruptions of power for the overall safety of the city.”

That’s just not true. 

Neither the California legislature, nor the California public utilities commission, require public safety power shut offs… Intentional blackouts.

In fact … some would argue that state law requires the utility company to provide safe and reliable power… And power that is shut off during windy periods cannot be considered either.

No one has ever filed a suit to challenge the implementation of power cutoffs by a regulated utility that … legislatively .. is required to supply safe and reliable power.

The Edison manager also ducked answering the question from Bruce Silverstein … when will Edison end preemptive powers shutoffs due to wind ??

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THOMAS: “We have a plan in conjunction with the CPUC’s regulations to make sure that we are supplying and installing equipment that can meet the highest standards that the CPC is putting over to us.”

SILVERSTEIN: “That’s also not an answer to the question.

THOMAS: “I will step back ….”

SILVERSTEIN:  “I mean, it is words. But if the answer is no, then the answer is no, and that’s fine.”

THOMAS: “it’s not an objective plan, per se, but there are… We understand that the coupllng and cobbling of all these efforts are trying to stay ahead of the growth that is in the city and they need for safety that is important for that growth.” 

Thomas revealed for the first time that Edison is planning some undergrounding of power lines in the Malibu area … something the company has never before last night disclosed.

He called it TUG .. Targeting Under Grounding.

Councilman Steve Uhring jumped right on that. 

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UHRING: “Any targeted areas of Malibu you are working with?”

SCE MANAGER: “There are some projected TUG projects that are going on.

“And so in the past I reached out because we had crews that come out to survey in certain areas. It came out to survey certain areas and we have a very responsive citizenry. Who’s saying what is Edison doing out here so we did come out we did do to bring back the findings to bring back to terrain the area to bring it back to that criteria and then measure which projects are going to be put on the queue. 

“So there are going to be some put into 2024, ’25, ’26 that are planned for the City of Malibu, yes.”

Thomas told the city council that no Malibu power lines are currently considered dangerous enough to be put underground immediately. 

 

Caltrans Will Try A Third Version Of A Detour At Corral Canyon Turn Mess

Caltrans officials announced late yesterday they will again the shift lanes around on PCH at the messed up Corral Canyon Road traffic light.

If you are counting … this will be emergency revision number two.

The state says they will install a U-turn channel just east of the construction zone … to allow traffic heading east on PCH … but unable to turn north on Corral Canyon … to circle back to the light.

But city officials are left scratching their heads about the changes … which do not include shifting the new traffic light a little bit further east to provide a protected U-turn arrow and red light for oncoming traffic.

State officials said lanes will be shifted juts east of the construction zone to accommodate a temporary southbound U-turn lane.

New plastic sticks and lane striping will vibe installed … as early as tomorrow.

This will be down at the RV Park entrance. 

This will be version three of the detour.

Caltrans officials had at first left it open for left turns at the Corral Canyon Road intersection, leaving Malibu officials slackjawed as they saw drivers stop in the left through traffic lane to await a gap in oncoming traffic.

A midlevel state safety official reportedly was left gasping in amazement at the lack of a “no left turn” sign at the intersection, and reportedly was on the phone ordering the signs to be installed immediately during an inspection tour.

The bridge construction is supposed to be completed in mid-2025.

 

Malibu’s Top Cop Promises Driver In Fiery Head-on Crash Will Be Arrested

Malibu’s top cop says a young man killed on Christmas Eve on PCH was not speeding.

And Captain Jennifer Seetoo says another driver … who caused a spectacular fiery crash … its going to get caught.

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“currently right now we believe that it was an unfortunate conclusion and then on December 28 we had a person going in excess of 100 miles an hour. Our investigators are working on this day and night and did Ron but I am confident that we were going to apprehended that person.”

There has been a hitch in the plan to bring CHP officers to Malibu on a regular basis.

A temporary contract has brought 4 CHP officers to Malibu 5 times a week.

A longterm contract has hung up on the issue of liability insurance … the state wants Malibu to take liability for any mistakes that the state officers might make.

Malibu has proposed a different contract to the state … and CHP bosses are looking that over in Sacramento.

 

And In News We Could Not Get To Today ….

School district support and the Malibu Farmers Market was also up at the city council last night … we will have coverage on that tomorrow. 

We will have more on last night’s city council meeting …. tomorrow. 

That’s currently under review. We don’t know if it’s dangerous or how dangerous,” said study co-author Phoebe Stapleton, a toxicologist at Rutgers.