KBUU Newswire – Day 242 – Tues July 9 – TDSF Ordinance Scrapped For Now – 2 Skate Parks Promised – Bureaucrat Gets Standing Ovation – Homeless Are Renting Vans To Sleep Next To Beach

• =    The city council’s attempt to reduce the size of mansions goes down in flames.
• =   The city promises to build a temporary skate park … and then a permanent one.
• =    There’s no money to pay for it … yet … and the city council had just vowed no new projects.
• =    Not often that a bureaucrat gets a one minute long standing ovation … that happened last night.
• =   Coming soon to a beach near you … homeless people … renting vans parked on the street.
• =  And Sandy Banducci passes away … described as every kids’ mom in Malibu Park for 50 years.

Malibu’s Only Local Daily News from Radio Malibu  …. F-M 99 point 1 K B U U. Good morning … I’m Hans Laetz reporting.

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The Malibu city council has backtracked on its plan to combat mansionization.

This is in the face of furious opposition by many in the city.

On a 4 to 1 vote … the council voted to drop the current set of proposed modifications to reduce the allowable TDSF for residential projects.

That’s Total Developed Square Footage.

Mayor Jefferson Wagner was the lone vote in opposition.

Councilwoman Karen Farrer reiterated that she was never supportive of the plan … and said the city had other pressing priorities.

The city council directed staff to report to them in August … on what resources would be required to pursue the possibility of providing incentives to build smaller (e.g. expedited processing) to build 1 story homes below the allowable TDSF.

The vote was after our deadline last night … this account comes from Don Schmitz.

We’ll have more on this tomorrow.

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It looks like Malibu is going to get not one skate park … but two.

The city council voted last night to build a temporary skate park at Bluffs Park …  Details:   https://www.radiomalibu.net/council-vows-to-build-2-skateparks/

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One place that the temporary skate park cannot be built is the chili cook off site.

That’s because the chili cookoff is coming this fall.

The City planning commission is set to act on that next week … as well as a decision on the Soho House parking issue.

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It is not often that a city bureaucrat gets a minute long standing ovation at City Hall.

Craig George got such an honor last night.

George has been working for the city for 23 years … and he is retiring.

NEWSCART 75192 GEORGE

“Thank you for the award but it’s been great working for the people it’s been great working with so many different councils.

“I was thinking about it the other night I’ve worked for six different city managers, but I still think this is probably the greatest time for the city right now.”

George joined the City in 1995 as its Building Safety Supervisor.

But it was septic tanks and Sewage plants that are his forte.

Either as a building inspector supervisor or as director of the city’s environmental sustainability department … Craig George’s been involved in the construction of nearly every structure in Malibu since 1995.

He helped design the city’s new sewer plant at the Civic Center.

George initiated and established the city’s gray-water program and the rainwater harvesting program.

Craig George is known across California as an expert in onsite sewage disposal.

He has served on the Board of Directors of the California Onsite Wastewater Association for over 15 years.

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You are listening to the latest news from Radio Malibu … F-M 99 point 1 K B U U.  ((( time  ))))

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In news from down the coast … the proliferating number of vans and RVs parked along the coast in Venice apparently has spawned a new business.

Vanlord.

A businessman has bought 14 vans … and is renting them out to people without any permanentn place to live.

For $300 a month . people are renting vans from Gary Gallerie.

He lives in a van in Venice and rents out another 14, most of which don’t run ,,, acciording to the Santa Monica Daily Press newspaper.

The vans sit in front multimillion dollar homes in Venice for weeks at a time.

The most recent homeless census found that about a third of the roughly 60,000 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County live in their vehicles.

About 125 live in safe parking lots …. thousands of others live on the streets.

The vanlord gives his tenants keys to the back doors of the vehicles … but not the ignition …and are unable to drive the vans.

He moves the vans that run when necessary and pays to tow the non-operational vehicles to new locations.

People enrolled in Safe Parking LA must leave the parking lots early in the morning, it’s impossible for the program to accommodate a vehicle that doesn’t run.

So now … they can rent a van at the beach.

There is no word if the program has spread to the flotilla of vans and RVs parked in eastern Malibu … which are spreading across the city.

The story is baed on reporting in the Santa Monica Daily Press.

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Malibu’s electric company may be able to tap in to a 21 billion dollar fund set up and funded by the state and the company’s ratepayers… under terms of a controversial measure to overhaul how the state deals with utility-caused wildfires by a 31-7 vote.

The Legislature is hurrying to approve AB 1054 before lawmakers leave for their summer recess in an effort to avoid a further downgrade of the utilities’ bond ratings.

Southern California Edison nd two other big ocmpanies would only have to reimburse the fund if they’re found to have acted unreasonably to start a fire.

But the amount of those reimbursements would be capped.

The idea is to keep Southern California Edison afloat … at a time that it faces between three and 4 billion dollars in damages payments for the Thomas and Woolsey fires.

With another terrible fire season expected this fall … experts have warned that Southern California Edison is only one fire away from financial catastrophe.

Frequent utility critics in the state Senate like Sen. Jerry Hill say the new fund strikes a good balance between holding utilities accountable, but not putting them at risk if they acted in good faith.

An author of the bill … Pasadena Democrat assembly when Chris Holden … warns that “We must take necessary steps to make sure we have stable electric utilities.

California’s three biggest utilities have called for major changes in state laws and regulations to help them better manage their wildfire liabilities and allow them to regain a solid financial footing.

The measure also ties executive compensation to fire safety, and requires the state’s largest power companies to invest $5 billion in safety improvements

Notably, the bill does not propose any changes to inverse condemnation,the legal doctrine that holds California utilities responsible for damage caused by their equipment even if they were not negligent.

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Sandy Banducci has died … a longtime Malibu Park stalwart.

Banducci and her husband of more than 50 years, Russ, had been in Malibu since 1972 … and she was involved with youth sports since the day she arrived. 

Before there was a city … Banducci started Malibu Team Sports and volunteered her time with several sports such as football, volleyball and basketball. 

Banducci also volunteered her time for Malibu Park Middle School and then as the first athletic director for Malibu High School when it started up.

Flag football, basketball and tee-ball .… Banducci was one of those people you just saw everywhere … volunteering and helping out..” 

Sandy and Russ Banducci lost their home to the Woolsey Fire.

We don’t have any word on services.

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Traffic … in 65 seconds … first …

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Weather for the Malibu ….

((((   Patchy fog this morning   )))) … highs  ((((  70    )))) beaches … ((((   83   )))) mountains and canyons.

Downcoast winds …  (((  20    )))) miles per hour this afternoon.

Sunset tonight is at   ((((    8:05    )))).

After that … (((  more coastal crud   )))) tonight … low ((((   57  )))) beaches …  ((((  55  )))) mountains and canyons.

Tomorrow should be   ((((    just about the same    )))).

Right now … at Trancas it’s ((((     64  )))) degrees.

Leo Carrillo Beach …   ((((  62      )))).

Upper Malibu Canyon …  ((((   57     )))) .

And at Civic Center Los Angeles … ((((    68   )))).

In the ocean … it’s ((((    67    )))) degrees in the water at Zuma Beach.

Mo  say the waves today are   ((((  3 to 5   )))) feet high …. with some texture on the water.

Those are ((((  fair )))) surfing conditions …. according to Mo..

(((((  Low tide is at 9:43.

High tide is this afternoon at 4:41 … at nearly 5 and a half feet.   ))))

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The KBUU Newswire is posted midmornings … at RadioMalibu.net and at the MalibuTimes.com websites.

Remember…  breaking news always  goes first to the radio …  on F-M 99 point 1 over all of Malibu….

Our web player is simple …. you can hear Radio Malibu in your phone or stream it to your car.

Navigate to Radio Malibu dot net . … and we’re streaming in your ear anywhere in the world.

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