Malibu Canyon Road re-opened on time… at 6 o’clock this morning… after being closed all weekend as a precaution.

More than 3 inches of rain fell in the canyon over the weekend.

No major rock falls were reported… In fact… No major problems were reported on any of Malibu area roadways.

But the effects ion this winter’s massive rains on Malibu’s key access road remains an open question.

Big cracks in concrete retaining walls … near the Getty Villa … 

Major erosion just above the highway …and  next to the ocean … quite apparent. 

A vertical cliff made of sand and rocks is right next to the traffic lanes … behind the concrete railings … on PCH near Getty Villa. 

Across the highway … some houses one Coastline Drive are very close to active landslides … just above the traffic lanes. 

One block down the coast … the Porto Marina landslide … the one blocking one lane of the road towards Malibu … continues to come down.

That landslide has been inching into PCH traffic lanes for more than 30 years.

But this winter … it accelerated across the roadway … completely blocking the number two lane just past Sunset Boulevard. 

And three weeks later … there it sits.

That landslide had taken out old city streets up the hill … decades ago. 

Caltrans tells KBUU they cannot clear the mud until it stops sloughing off private property uphill … private property that has been sliding down towards PCH as long as the highway has been there.

63 thousand cars .. trucks and school buses use that section of PCH every day.

One one side of the road … the ocean has eaten away the side of the road.

On the other side … nightly traffic jams because of a slow moving mudslide that has been active for 60 years.

Caltrans has not announced any plans about what it will do about the immediate threats to PCH … the main access to Malibu … carrying 63 thousand vehicles a day.

 

Residents Of Eastern Malibu Are Worried About Topanga Lagoon Project

The gigantic reconstruction of the Topanga Lagoon is up for approval by California State Parks.

The state is considering plans to possibly realign PCH over a new curved bridge … and an enhanced lagoon … at the eastern gateway to Malibu. 

Residents of the east end of town … near Topp[anag beach … have urged the City of Malibu to chime in with comments about the four proposals being considered by the state.

And the city staff has produced a comment letter … a letter that pretty much shies away with many of the concerns raised by the public.

Lloyd Ahearn … who lives at the eastern Malibu city limits … is president of a homeowners association there.

He has said the recent botched bridge construction undertaken by Caltrans at Trancas should give the city questions that it wants answered by the state.

Ahearn has also asked how the lagoon construction with a fact beachfront residence just west of Topanga point… Inside city limits.

The city’s letter also points out that building parks facilities at Topanga Beach would require the construction of a sewage plant there …. Or extension of a sewer line up PCH from Getty Villa.

You know … the one mile of PCH threatened by landslides and ocean erosion.

The city points out sewer line installation will cause lane closures at a major PCH chokepoint.

Tier cioty also points out that one option would require trucking hundreds of truckloads of sand out … to there west … through Malibu.

It’s not clear where that sand would go … or how this would mix in with three major sand projects also proposed for the Malibu area.

The county plans to truck sand in for beach restoration.

The state plans to move sand by truck out from Rindge Dam down to Malibu Surfrider Beach.

And broad beach still has plans to truck in sand from Ventura County.

What would be the cumulative impact of all these tracks passing each other on Pacific Coast Highway?

The city has until the middle of this month to raise issues that it once studied in the environmental impact report.

But under state law… Regular old voters also have the right to raise questions… And demand answers.

California state parks is obligated to consider and address every valid environmental concern brought up by anyone… Not just the city. 

That’s what the environmental review process is all about.

The environmental review report is available for you to review at https://www.topangalagoonrestoration.org/library .

 

City Employees Are Not Making Competitive Salaries, Analysis Says

Malibu is not paying its city employees enough money to be competitive.

Base salaries for city employees are on average 4.9% below the market median.

And for a city that aims to pay 10 percent more than the average for the area … the city’s base salaries on average 15.4% below target market.

For organizations with a “lag the market” philosophy, these results would indicate they were “competitive” in the labor market. 

But city manager Steve McClary says Malibu’s policy has been to lead the market … to make sure it is recruiting and retaining a staff that does not head for the exits for better jobs all the time.

 

Malibi Resident Tops The Country Charts

A Malibu resident has shattered music records.

Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album is the most-streamed album in a single day in 2024.

First time that a country-album has held the title this year.

Cowboy Carter also has the title for the most first-day streams on Amazon Music globally in the history of Amazon Music by a female artist. 

The album’s first single, “Texas Hold ‘Em,” was streamed over 200 million times on Spotify before the full record was released.

The album has a number of collaborations and covers, and includes vocals from Miley Cyrus, Post Malone, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Linda Martell, Tanner Adell, Willie Jones, Raphael Saadiq, The-Dream, and Shaboozey.

She continued, “This album has been over five years in the making. It was born out of an experience that I had years ago where I did not feel welcomed…and it was very clear that I wasn’t. But, because of that experience, I did a deeper dive into the history of Country music and studied our rich musical archive. It feels good to see how music can unite so many people around the world, while also amplifying the voices of some of the people who have dedicated so much of their lives educating on our musical history.”

Beyonce lives above Paradise Cove.