Council Pushes All Other Items Aside to Deal With Proposed Hotel, Still Can’t Finish
Written by 991KBU on August 10, 2021
he Malibu City Council bickered over the agenda (see accompanying story last night) before pushing aside every single agenda item save one: the proposed conversion of a Billionaire’s Beach office building into a luxury hotel.
Then, it was unable to finish that hearing … as the meeting dissolved into nastiness after midnight.
The proposal is from real estate developer Norm Haney … to convert an abandoned gas station into a grand entrance .. and convert the office buiding into an attached hotel.
That hotel has attracted strong opposition from an active Los Angeles hotel workers union … Unite Local 11.
And that lead to the parade of speaker after speaker … most from Los Angeles and vicinity .. employees of various hotels … opposing the hotel.
Here’s one of many … Judith Abrego … of Los Angeles.
NEWSCART 73678 JUDITH ABREGO
“Mi nombre es Judith Abrego … y yo soy …
VOICE OF TRANSLATOR: “Hi my name is Judith and I work at the Jonathan Club as a housekeeper.
“Please vote no on this project …
“The Seaview Hotel should provide the required amount of landscaping under the code.
“What makes Malibu such a destination is the beauty of the natural envornment and that’s why the city requires so much landscaping from new projects.
“The project fails to meet the code standards and rather than revise their project the city wantds to change the codes.
“That isn’t right.
“Please reject this project.
“Thank you.”
Dozens of housekeepers … union advocates … commented on Malibu land use.
That never happens in Malibu … never … but the workers orgazined by Unite Local 11 have an agenda with the proposed hotel.
Not stated but obvious … the Unite Local 11 hotel workers union … which wants a contract … but doesn’t have a contract … with the hotel.
Most malibu residents who spoke were in favor… like Matt de Nicola.
NEWSCART 73682 HOTEL DENICOLA
“I think what you want in this community are people who live here.
“I live on PCH … I see this as a plus.
“I think Norm has done a heck of a job with this analysis and this project.
“And I think it is going to be beautiful.”
Bill Curtis pointed put the abandoned buildings near the abandoned gas station … the closest thing Malibu has to urban blight … right across the street from Billionaire’s Beach.
NEWSCART 73680 HOTEL CURTIS
“The La Salsa abandoned building … a rusty chicken bucket.
“And a really old blue abandoned gas station.
“Mr. Haney wants to make the ugly blue gas station into a pretty tree-filled hotel.
“Norm, if you are listening, you should be really proud of your design.”
Former Malibu mayor Jefferson Wagner’s small surf shop is just a few feet away from the proposed hotel.
NEWSCART 73671 HOTELWAGNER Jefferson Wagner
“I am 75 feet … 80 feet away from this project … I would be more impacted by this project than anyone who has spoken this evening … and I still support it.”
Longtime Slow Growth activist Patt Healy … however … opposes it.
NEWSCART 73679 HOTEL HEALY
“It doesn’t benefit the residents, it doesn’t meet the codes to protect Malibu’s rural environment.
“This is an urban hotel and it has no place in Malibu.”
The meeting stretched until 12:30 in the morning.
As the meeting started with rancor and nastiness … and it ended that way too.
Bruce Silverstein was about three fourths complete with his 40 pages of notes and questions … at 15 after midnight … when mayor Paul Grisanti cut him off.
What did they decide?
Some additional conditions were agreed to.
But the whole matter was put off to another date.
As was every other thing on last night’s crowded agenda.
