Shopping Center Makes Pitch For Performing Arts Center On City Land In Its Midst

Malibu volunteers yesterday got their first look at the city owned vacant lot … at the north end of the gigantic new shopping center called Cross Creek Ranch.

The vacant land is big enough to host two small theaters .. on one side … and a performing arts studio and gallery on the other.

In the middle … a rocky ridge.

To the south … a giant new shopping center with tons of parking.

To the north. … a cliff with houses on top.

The shopping center owners envision the city of Malibu constructing a performing arts center and art gallery/studio at the site.  Of course … this is just an initial concept of an early idea of a sketch that might happen.

Some in Malibu really want an arts center … possibly containing a small stage and possibly containing a movie theater for screenings.

The city council has asked residents what they think … part of the citywide review of public land owned by the city … and the cry for Malibu to spend some of its saved money for new parks … a senior center … a city pool … maybe a branch library.

And maybe a performing arts center. 

Others want parks facilities on other vacant sites to be the priority … although some day both are possible.

Which brings us to the hillside behind the new shopping center. 

Bryan Gordon represents Cross creek Ranch … and he says the center would love to have the city build right behind it … and share the parking lot. 

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“There’s an area that’s adequate to house both the performing arts center on one side of the rocky outcrop and a gallery and exhibition space on the other side, without disturbing the rocky outcrop, which we feel as essential feature of this of this area.

“To keep the natural topography as much as the natural landscaping … it is Malibu after all, and I think it’s our responsibility to keep as much of a natural environment as possible.”

So what does the Malibu arts community think of it???  Lots of different voices there. 

Shoshone Kuttner was the artistic director of the Malibu Stage Company … when it lost its space on PCH near Point Dume when the land was sold.

And she tells KBUU there are many different constituencies in Malibu who really miss the old center … and want a new one. 

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“Our theater was closed in 2020. There are a few people that want performing arts. I actually don’t even have a space for theater right now or acting classes or musical performances. We don’t have anything like that.”

Malibu’s Arts Commission met yesterday … and took a tour of the site. 

Chairman Barry Haldeman.

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“This is a wonderful opportunity to finally move forward with the arts center.

“However what we’ve realized is that there a lot of different communities out there that need the arts center to help them on their way.

“And we need some more input so that we get a full ecumenical view of the whole situation … and then we move forward with that as soon as we can. “

The shopping center owner is bending over backwards to attract the city to the small lot … behind its new property. 

It is donating 100 thousand dollars towards coming up with a design.

Bryan Gordon represents the company … and he says putting the arts center on the city owned lot … with its utilities already installed … with a parking lot right next door … makes so much sense.e 

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“This is my opinion, but remember this decision was made by the city council when they evaluated all of the public lands, as to what programming should be in each of the areas.

“And they decided – and I agree with that decision – that the civic center area –  which is sort of a heart of the commercial heart of the city of Malibu … its sort of heartbeat … this is where the Civic Center area should be. 

“This is where our performing arts … our gathering space and everything should be … and I think they correctly decided to aggregate, for example, sports at Heathercliff, etc. 

“Here here you already have people accumulated for the purpose of eating, shopping, hanging out.

“This is the proper space to and really a community center.” 

Putting the performing arts center in the midst of the shopping center … with its natural rocky hilltop and underground parking … keeps the Loki Site free of buildings.

That vacant lot is also known as the Chili Cook-off Site … and many voters still believe that outdoor playing fields for adults and children belong there.

The Heathercliff site is too small for several playing fields … and a multigenerational community center and branch library.

Before the fires … the Malibu city council was in the middle of deciding what to do with its vacant land …. the various needs for parks and performing arts … 

Then the Palisades Fire hit.  With 700 destroyed houses … with PCH about to fall into the ocean … without a city manager … with a city staff in turmoil … that’s a lot for the five city council members to chew on.

A huge list.

We will keep you posted. 

Retired Federal Judge Sues City of LA For Taking His House and 1,600 Others In Palisades Fire

A retired federal court judge who has served as a mediator in Woolsey Fire court cases has lost his home in the Palisades Fire … and is joining one of the teams of lawyers suing the City of Los Angeles. 

Jay Gandhi served as a mediator in settlements with Southern California Edison over the Woolsey and Thomas fires, and the deadly Montecito debris flows.

He is is joining a lawsuit against Los Angeles’ Department of Water and Power for causing the fire that roared into Pacific Palisades and Malibu last January. 

Yesterday … Judge Ghandi told ABC7 he wants justice for his neighbors … who now share the trauma he has seen for years in his law experience.

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“And when I knew by trauma is not just the loss of cherish memories lives every day with us now so I don’t say it’s a monkey on my back but certainly something I’ll be caring for a long time.”

Gandhi joins a suit filed on Jan. 13, which now represents more than 750 fire plaintiffs. 

Current U.S. District Court Judge Dean Pregerson also lost his home in the fire … has also joined the lawsuit.

Among the defendants is the MRCA … the Mountains Recreation Conservation Authority.

It allowed brush and dry trees to overtake Temescal Canyon …where the fire first spread … and its inadequate fire crews failed to prevent it from spreading through MRCA park headquarters buildings out into the Palisades village.

16 hundred houses .. and 3 lives … were lost. 

SCE Left A 102-Year Old, Abandoned Power Line Up, It May Have Sparked The Eaton Fire

More legal headaches for Southern California Edison. 

Although it appears right now that SCE was not involved in the recent Palisades and Malibu destruction … the company faces billions of dollars in claims for the Eaton Fire … which killed people and destroyed houses in Altadena.

It appears that a 102-year-old Edison transmission line had been turned off in 1972 … but 19 towers above Altadena were never removed.

The old line runs parallel to new high voltage lines … and acted as a giant magnet to pick up power and become energized.

Attorney Mikal Watts said there can be no doubt the idle line, built 102 years ago, was the culprit and should have been better maintained or removed.

“If you’re not going to take it away, at least don’t leave it as an electrical pile of junk that causes hazards,” Watts said. 

“Full stop. Southern California Edison burned your house down. Southern California Edison burned your town down.”

SCE is still in settlement talks with some Malibu residents over the Woolsey Fire … which destroyed 465 houses in Malibu six years ago.

This editorial note … KBUU and its staff are still in litigation for damage to its transmitters and other losses during that fire.

Santa Monica Tied Up In All Directions, As Pali High Arrives and Departs Daily

Total gridlock in Santa Monica yesterday … get used to it.

School began yesterday at the old Sears building in downtown Santa Monica … the new temporary home for Palisades High School.

At least two thousand students .. plus teachers and support staff … are all arriving for class every morning between 7:30 and 9.

And every afternoon … they are all leaving at around 3.

This is happening just across the 10 freeway from Santa Monica High … which is on a similar schedule … and Samohi also ties up traffic at the 10 Freeway and Lincoln Boulevard. 

The mayor … Lara Negreete … told KTLA Channel 5 that extra cops and traffic control officers were stioned there to sort things out. 

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“Well, we got Department of Transportation – as you can see everyone’s out in full force – I want people to understand that a lot of people are coming on public transit.

“The student body was putting out some really cool social media telling students how to get here via the Metro, via the bus, and there’s also kids traveling on charter buses coming in.

“So we expect that there might be a little hiccups as people get used to the offramps.

“We just ask that our Santa Monica residents and everybody coming in: be patient and kind and maybe they give themselves a little extra time this week as we work out the kinks.”

Santa Monica mayor Lara Negrete was speaking yesterday on KTLA.

Another Weekend Stabbing On Sand In Santa Monica, As City Asks Coastal To Allow Beach Curfew

In more news from down the coast … there has been another stabbing on Ocean Front Walk in Santa Monica. 

Actually … two of them.

A man and a woman from Northridge were slashed at about 2:20 Saturday morning … on the beach just north of the Venice- Santa Monica boundary line.

The man is still hospitalized with critical injuries.  

The woman was treated and released. 

Both victims were from Northridge.

A 20 year old man from San Gabriel was arrested Monday. 

His name is Ivan Angel Plancarte.

He faces attempted murder charges and will appear in court today.

His bail has been set at $1 million.

This was the latest incident of late night mayhem on Santa Monica’s beaches … which are not closed at night. 

The Santa Monica city council is trying to negotiate with the Coastal commission … and get permission to close the beaches at night. 

Final 260 Steelhead Evacuated Out Of Local Area, And They Are Making Babies In the Shelter

State wildlife biologists now believe there are no more steelhead trout alive in the Santa Monica Mountains. 

The final 260 living Southern California steelhead trout were plucked out of Topanga Creek after the Palisades Fire … and they have been transplanted to a small creek west of Santa Barbara.

Good news.

The fish made babies. 

More than 100 young trout have hatched and are living in their temporary home … Arroyo Hondo Creek.

The fish used to be in every major Malibu canyon … swimming out to the ocean in major rainfalls …. But living in small ponds deep in the canyons during dry spells. 

100 years ago … people caught them with pitchforks.

Drought and a loss of habitat cut their population into the critical level.

After the fire ash threatened to choke the remaining fish … they were stunned with electricity, scooped up in buckets, trucked to a hatchery, fed unfamiliar food and then moved to a different creek. 

The LA Times reports the relocating was pulled off in the nick of time.

And now … biologists estimate there are more than 100 baby trout in their new habitat … in Santa Barbara County.

The future of steelhead salmon on Malibu’s mountains depends on several big projects.

Removal of Rindge Dam. … on Malibu Creek … is one.

And Topanga Creek needs a few years to heal after the fire … plus the state has plans to re-create the lagoon at the bottom of the canyon … which is essential to the steelhead recovery plan.

The fire may have actually accelerated the lagoon project … many historic old buildings that were in the way have been vaporized.