Planning Commission Could Go Nuclear Against Nobu Tonight

The City of Malibu will consider closing the Nobu restaurant … at the Planning Commission tonight.

Nobu is estimated to be one of the most-profitable restaurant in greater L A.

It’s a magnet for celebrities … paparazzi … big spenders.

It’s also a traffic disaster.

Nearly every regular motorist on P C H has a horror story or two about nearly getting hit by parking valets  … zipping out of the parking lot to store cars in a nearby office building.

The traffic jams caused by that … or by drivers queuing up to enter a jammed parking lot … are regular occurrences on beach days.

After years of thumbing its nose at city regulations … and clogging Pacific Coast Highway with valets parking cars off the property … Nobu has been ordered to cease and desist.

Tonight … the Malibu Planning Commission will consider revocation of Nobu’s city permits … which could theoretically lead to its closure.

A cease and desist order has already been released by the city yesterday … city zoning enforcement officers said “the Nobu operation has consistently violated (city) requirements and refused to bring the operation into compliance, despite numerous warnings and the efforts of the City.”

The city set a deadline of two weeks ago for the restaurant to come up with a plan to fix the violations … a deadline that the city says Nobu has ignored.

An attorney for Nobu says they were surprised by the city’s cease and desist order.

They produced a traffic engineer’s report that claims the city’s plan … to ban left turns to and from the parking lot … is dangerous and creates safety issues for all drivers in the area.

The matter will come to a head tonight… at the Planning Commission meeting.