Traffic Chaos On Morning View, As PCH Closed To Investigate Pedestrian Injury

A pedestrian was struck and badly injured by a car on Pacific Coast Highway at Zuma Beach this morning.

The crash happened at 5 this morning.

A pedestrian … on the ocean side of the highway … was in traffic lanes trying to retrieve an object … according to sheriff’s deputies. 

A U-S Navy patrol vehicle heading towards Santa Monica hit the person. 

A pedestrian was taken to UCLA Hospital in unknown condition. 

Because the car has US government license plates  … the sheriff’s office conducted a thorough investigation.

PCH was closed between Morning View and Guernsey from 5:30 to 9 … with heavy traffic zigzagging through the high school and Malibu Park areas.

Newsom Vetoes Statewide Speed Bill, But Has Yet To Act On Malibu Radar Cams

A proposed state law to crack down on drivers who get caught going more than 25 miles an hour over a local speed limit was vetoed by California Governor Gavin Newsom yesterday.

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“It’s a big disappointment that that was vetoed.” 

Malibu mayor Doug Stewart … at last night’s city council meeting.

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“We hope it does not have any impact on our speed camera bill, which is a local bill as opposed to a statewide as Senator Stern’s was. 

“And we understand that our speed camera bill. SB 1297 is still on the governors desk.”

Malibu officials had pinned great hopes on the bill … which would have added one point to the drivers licenses of offenders caught.

Newsom said that wouldn’t be effective … because drivers could go to traffic school to avoid the first point. 

But for a driver with a bad record … traffic school would not have been an option … making the governor’s veto message nonsensical.

Newsom also said it would be too difficult for the state DMV to change its computers to keep track of the additional “point” that would be assessed against drivers convicted of gross speeding.

The governor has not yet decided what to do about the Malibu traffic camera bill yet.

Same story for a bill that would require Caltrans to include bike lanes and pedestrian walking areas on any project it undertakes …. A bill that would essentially require Caltrans to add sidewalks and bike lanes to Pacific Coast Highway.

Innovative Plan To Use Legal Red Light Cameras To Stop Speeders Proposed By City

Malibu’s traffic engineer is planning to connect speed radars to red lights.

Public works director Rob DuBoux says the plan is to put radar units in along PCH … which would detect speeding cars … and trigger signals ahead to turn red.

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DUBOUX: “It’s a brand new system or program that would detect speeding on PCH and would adjust the signal timing further up the street to allow for more red lights.”

MAYOR DOUG STEWART: “OK, but I was talking to some people who are knowledgeable about traffic when I mentioned this to some people who are knowledgeable about traffic they all went. What’s gonna make them stop? What about the red light cameras?”

DUBOUX:  “So that was another program that we’re looking into. I think that’s a separate program that we’re going to have to bring to council.”

Rob DuBox and Mayor Doug Stewart last night. 

It’s important to note three things about this.

One … automatic red light cameras are allowed by current state law.   

Two … current California speed law prohibits cops from using automated radar to issue speeding tickets … in most cases.  Malibu is asking for an exception to this.

Three … California law says nothing about using automated radar to trigger red lights. 

Nevertheless … the Malibu red light radar plan has not been used anywhere in the state … or possibly in the nation.  

Horvath Tells City: Answer To RV Parking Problem Is To Change Signs

The line of dilapidated campers on Pacific Coast Highway is gross and disgusting … with sewage draining into the ocean … and trash everywhere.

It’s been a continuing source of vexation for people driving along the coast … people trying to visit the coast … visitors and tourists confronted with ugliness on the state’s most scenic corridor.

Today … the LA County Board of Supervisors will take a vote … on adding a tow away zone stripe to the existing signs.

Malibu mayor Doug Stewart

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“Tt’s unfortunate that an appeals court decision restricted our ability to tow vehicles because they have unpaid traffic tickets. However, by adding this to zone, when we come across these vehicles and they are parked there, we would then have that authority (to tow them away).”

Supervisor Lindsay Horvath is a strong coastal access advocate … but even she is fed up with the motley campers along the beach.

The coastal commission has ultimate power over what is placed on signs by public agencies along the beaches.

County officials have surveyed the people insideof the RVs parked along Pacific Coast Highway between Topanga Canyon Boulevard and Sunset Boulevard.

All, but three of the RVs are occupied by people who have houses… But who are squatting on Pacific Coast Highway to the ocean views and breezes.

Lobbyists Seeking City Subsidies For Low Cost Housing May Have Torpedoed Malibu’s Housing Element

Malibu’s proposed Housing Element may have been torpedoed by a lobbying firm for developers … Don Schmitz and Associates. 

The state is requiring Malibu … like every other city … to come up with a housing plan to help chisel away at the terrible housing shortage in California. 

Last night … a Schmitz lobbyist told the city council they had informed Sacramento officials about a shortcoming they had uncovered in Malibu’s proposed housing element. 

The lobbyist .., Cindy Martin … said the state agrees with them. 

Martin told the city council last night that the city’s housing element violates federal law … because it concentrates all new development at two vacant lots near Paradise Cove.

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“Clustering affordable housing in one area violates AB 686 and the HUD (federal( Fair Housing Act.

And the developers consultant is that the city needs to provide more than just the zoning. 

“They need to provide tax dollars to make low income housing a reality in Malibu. 

“This is not realistic without these subsidies. Developers will operate at a loss.

“They need these subsidies.”

Martin told the city council last night … that Schmitz and Associates have already taken their concerns to state officials in Sacramento … bypassing the city.

She actually showed an email that she got back from a state official … 

It says the state has reversed its earlier decision … and it claims that the city is now out of compliance with the state housing law as interpreted in Sacramento. 

A council majority voted to submit the existing proposed Housing Element to Sacramento … without the requested developer subsidies … as the city had promised state officials last summer.

City Endorses Measure MM, The Malibu-Only School Bond

Malibu’s city council endorsed the Malibu school bond last night. 

That was easy to predict. 

There is no organized opposition to the proposed 395 million dollar bond issue.

And surveys taken by school advocates have reportedly showed overwhelming support for the school bond.

But last night… One city councilman who is a frequent critic and opponent of construction at Malibu high school took a few shots.

Steve Uhring said he would support the bond issue … but the committee advocating for it needs to do a better job of telling people how much it would exactly cost.

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$400 per hundred thousand not on the website. How long is the website the length of the bond the people think why the heck don’t we have that information they’re saying there is something wrong that these people are trying to hire hide something.

“So don’t do that..”

If the tax impact of “four hundred dollars per hundred thousand” of assessed valuation is not on the website … that’s because Uhring’s number was wrong. 

The proposed tax increase would not be 400 per hundred dollars of assessed valuation … it would be $40 per hundred dollars of assessed valuation.

A house on the tax rolls for $1 million would pay an extra $400 per year in property taxes.

Of course that house may actually be worth $3 million or more, but the assessed valuation is essentially locked in at the time of the purchase.

But Uhring’s point about the lackluster of specifics … on the actual impact of the tax hike … is spot on. 

The Santa Monica district headquarters has not provided any information on the proposed tax rate.  The official website for measure MM does not have any.

Neither has the local committee campaigning for Measure MM. 

We will have the answers … and the correct math … on tomorrow’s newscast.

Uhring has been a critic in the past of Malibu High School growth plans… said he will support the bond issue. 

Coincidentally … a poll undertaken by school supporters reportedly shows overwhelming voter support in Malibu for Measure MM … and Uhring is running for reelection on same the ballot.

Santa Monica Has Surveys Out: What To Put At Former Airport Site

Malibu is not alone in trying to decide what to do with its vacant land.

Santa Monica is facing some huge decisions on what to do with the biggest question mark on the westside … the proposed “great park” that will replace Santa Monica Airport in 2029.

The 227-acre site will shut down as an airport at the end of 2028 under a landmark agreement with the FAA.

A ballot measure approved by Santa Monica voters in 2014 allows their city council to approve the development of parks, public open spaces and public recreational facilities.

And it prohibits new development without voter approval.

Just like Malibu … Santa Monica is doing a major study on what people want. 

The city of SM received nearly 2,000 survey responses and more than 250 comment cards at community events, according to Amber Richane, Principle Design and Planning Manager

The outreach efforts resulted in “a total of 147 ideas and suggestions for the future of the airport site,” Richane said.