City Planning Charmlee Takeover, Will Address Vermin

City officials are making plans to take over the Charmlee Park … in the mountains above western Malibu …

The city owns the park … but had leased it in a land deal with t he Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority … the M R C  A.

That deal was to gain control of vacant land at Bluffs Park … land that is owned by the state but controlled by the M R C A.

The idea was to build a new city park at Bluffs … but that ran into opposition from some people in Malibu who did not want to see the bluffs developed.

The M R C A had plans for a campground at Bluffs …. and it’s not clear what the M R C A will do now that it controls the largest parcel of undeveloped land in central Malibu.

The city and the M R C A are making final plans to remove fire debris at the heart of Charmlee … where the visitor center and ranger house were destroyed in the fire.

Frankly … that was an improvement … as the M R C A had let the property significantly deteriorate.

The city council will discuss the issue Monday.

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Also on the agenda are two items about controlling rats and other vermin without poison.

The city is considering an “Earth Friendly Management Program” prepared by the Poison Free Malibu volunteers.

It would prohibit the use of all pesticides and rodent poisons on city owned property.

But the city has also studied the possible limited use of organic pesticides in emergency circumstances.

Kian Schulman … the volunteer behind Poison Free Malibu … has endorsed the proposed city policy … which goes before the city council Monday night.

Also Monday … the council will get an update on dump bins in Malibu … or more specifically … on the inability of Malibu businesses to keep their lids closed.

Some places do not follow the city regulation … that their bins usually be snapped shut.

Requiring the bins to be snapped closed would require inspections … and could cause problems if the employees inevitably lose a key.

City officials say requiring locks on a bin may be necessary at sites with multiple incidents of rummaging …. but locking all food service establishments’ bins will not solve most trash area problems.

That stinky dilemma … also goes to the city council Monday night.