KBUU Newswire – Coastal Wants One Year Delay As $100 Million For Malibu High Dribbles Away – City Says ‘No Way’ To Get Rid Of Broad Beach Sand Tax District, Unless Broad Beach Dissolves It – Father Of 3 Killed On PCH – No 4th of July Fireworks In Malibu, Nearest Show Is July 1 At SMC
Written by 991KBU on June 22, 2023
Any hopes of rebuilding Malibu High School on any sort of prompt timetable have been dashed by bureaucrats at the California Coastal Commission.
A one year delay is being requested by the staff at the Coastal Commission … a request by its staff to put off the commission’s action on the Malibu High rezoning for 12 more months.
No explanation …. but it’s staff frequently says it is overloaded … and does not have enough resources to promptly analyze coastal permits.
It was almost a year ago that the city of Malibu okayed the overall zoning concept for the Malibu Middle School and High School campus.
School officials had hoped for the Coastal Commission to okay the zoning changes last fall.
They are worried that inflation is eating away at the 100 million dollars or so … available in bond money … to build the new high school buildings.
The old Juan Cabrillo elementary School buildings were quickly scraped away last fall.
District officials signed a contract for the new construction … and the plan was to start work last January.
Fat chance.
The three-way bureaucratic process that is Malibu City Hall … the Santa Monica school district … and the Coastal Commission staff was tied up in miscommunication.
The city had to make the application to coastal … coastal had questions … the city asked the school district for answers … the school district says they had already supplied the complete plans to the city.
Now … Coastal staff is in effect throwing up its hands and saying they need a year to work it all out.
School officials say there is barely enough money in the pot to build the classroom buildings… And that every month of delay equals a $1 million decrease in effective purchasing power.
The viability of constructing the new Malibu High buildings… given the delays and inflation… may be in doubt.
The item is on the Coastal Commission agenda for Thursday … the 12th of July.
City Manager: No Way To Get Rid Of The Broad Beach Sand District, Unless Broad Beach Votes To End It
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There is no way to dissolve the controversial Broad Beach Geological Hazard Assessment District … unless the Broad Beach residents vote to do so.
That’s the conclusion of Malibu city manager Steve McClary.
In a new report … the city manager agrees with the lawyer who has been running the sand district for 12 years … Ken Ehrlich.
He says there is no stopping the project …. and its 22 thousand truckloads of arriving sand from a quarry 40 miles away.
And that’s just the first year … possibly more than 85 thousand truckloads of sand might have too be trucked in over the 10 year lifespan of the project.
The neighborhood tax agency running the Broad Beach sand replacement project has burned through 23 million dollars in lawyers fees and engineering costs … and after 12 years has not moved one grain of sand.
Some of the 128 property owners in the district are fed up …and want to end the effort.
In particular … the Malibu West Swim Club wants out. The Swim Club is owned by homeowners in Malibu West … and they owe a collective 300 thousand dollars in back fees to the Broad Beach Geological Hazard Assessment District.
They stopped paying because many members feel it is a waste of money … and the Malibu West beach house will not get much sand.
Other property owners at the west end of Broad Beach have also filed suit … claiming that the public will benefit much more than they will from the theoretical new sand.
A court agreed with them … one of the many setbacks that have delayed the Broad Beach project 12 years.
In a new report to the city council … the city staff says the tax district could be eliminated by the city only if the district had gone inactive… which it hasn’t.
One major unresolved issue … is those 22 thousand trucks.
When the project was first conceived …. the source for the sand was not specified… trucks were not mentioned.
Then … the Coastal Commission staff rejected dredging offshore sand … and Broad Beach decided bring sand up from Mexico was too expensive.
That leaves 22 thousand trucks unloading their sand … one truck every two minutes … day and night for an entire summer and fall.
And Broad Beach will not unload those trucks at Broad beach …. Rather … they plan for a giant sand truck terminal to be built on Zuma Beach.
People who live there are most worried about truck noise … backup alarms … and dust.
The city never gave approval for that.
And despite frequent requests … the Board Beach sand district has yet to come up with the legally-required sand unloading truck depot plans for 22 thousand trucks.
This editor’s note …
This reporter lives within 300 feet of the proposed truck stop.
The Broad Beach issue goes before the city council next week.
Father Of 3, A Beloved Worker At Agoura High, Killed On PCH Saturday
It was a father of three kids who was killed Saturday on Pacific Coast Highway at Deer Creek Saturday.
The Ventura County coroner identifies the man as Jonathan Genavia … 35 … of Oxnard.
A sedan driven by a 74 year old man apparently pulled out in front of the Harley Davison being ridden by the victim … known to his friends as Jonny G.
As of Tuesday, no arrests had been made … and the incident remains under investigation.
Geneva leaves behind threee kids. A GoFundMe fundraiser has been set uo to pay for burial expenses.
Parents at Agora High School say Genevia was a familiar sight on campus, always asking how he could help.
No 4th of July Fireworks In Malibu, Nearest Show Is July 1 At SMC/Pico
The Fourth of July is in two weeks.
So far … no news to report on any fireworks permits being taken out in Malibu.
Fireworks are forbidden in the city due to the danger of attracting large unruly crowds .. and fire.
In years past … some wealthy groups have hired fireworks technicians and barges to launch fireworks offshore.
Santa Monica has no fireworks shows set yet for the fourth.
But for the first time since 2019 … Santa Monica College is bringing back its free community fireworks show …. Just not on the fourth.
Celebrate America 2023 will be on Saturday July First at the college’s football stadium … at 19th and Pico in Santa Monica.
Picnicking is welcome, but alcoholic beverages, glass containers, barbecues, and chairs with pointed legs are prohibited.
SMC promises a dazzling fireworks show by Rialto-based Pyro Spectaculars Entertainment.
Entertainment will include what they call the popular sounds of Westside Crew.
A bunch of food trucks.
Admission to the fireworks spectacular is free.
The SMC fireworks show on July First is the only one of its kind in Santa Monica.
Parking lots open at 4 p.m. … enter at Pico Blvd. and 17th St.
The fireworks are scheduled at 9 p.m. and should be visible from anywhere in Santa Monica. Celebrate America is presented by Santa Monica College and sponsored by SMC’s Emeritus Program, Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica Fire Department, and Associated Students of Santa Monica College.
