Editor’s note: these articles were broadcast Friday and printed Sunday.

City Officially Reacts to MRCA Untruths About PCH Parking

Malibu officials fired back at Joe Edmiston and the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority … the MRCA … last week.

Beach access is not more important than the need to end dangerous parking and pedestrian scramble conditions at some popular beaches and canyon trailheads … says the city.

The city has deep concern over recent comments made by an MRCA Advisory Committee … where members and its director ridiculed Malibu’s efforts to slow down traffic on PCH.

Malibu mayor Doug Stewart released a news release yesterday … blasting the MRCA.

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“This is a statement of the facts .. And will let if Joe Edmiston was correct or we’re correct… Will I think that we have the documentation of the history and that our press release on this issue is factual.”

Last week … members of the MRCA’s advisory committee .. and executive director Joe Edmiston … painted the traffic safety proposals as a conspiracy by Malibu and Caltrans to eliminate inland residents’ access at Malibu beaches and trailheads.

At the MRCA meeting last week … Joe Edmiston made this assertion. 

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“The inland areas are using the Malibu beaches, OK? 

“So these are the folks are going to be affected and those folks do not have any say – any say – in the Caltrans study..

“There are no elected officials that have been involved in any of this by Caltrans, only the City of Malibu.”

That statement is blatantly false.

And it created a misleading image of Malibu before the board of directors that runs the MRCA.

LA county supervisor Lindsey Horvath has led the PCH safety negotiations with Caltrans and the public.

She has two million constituents who live as far east as Hollywood.

The state assembly member involved in drafting the plan represents Simi Valley and the Thousand Oaks area.

The state senator involved in the safety plan … 95% of his constituents live in the San Fernando Valley.

As KBUU reported … that was not true. 

And Thursday … the city issued an unusual public rebuke to the MRCA … and pointed out that the MRCA had ignored the series of public meetings that Caltrans called to hear testimony.

Mayor Doug Stewart:

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“I think its important to note that – unlike what was said at the MRCA Santa Monica Conservancy meeting – Caltrans has been working on this almost the entire calendar year of 2024. 

“There’s nothing in here that’s a surprise. There’s nothing in here that is last minute. 

“And MRCA had every opportunity to step forward and put their fort points forward early on in the process. 

“In fact, they were asked to be a part of the on multiple occasions to be in attendance, and I’ve been sitting in some of those meetings where they said, where is the MRCA and the coastal commission and the answers they’re not here.”

Bottom line .. says the mayor:

“It shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody that attended these meetings that the city is trying to have proper access along PCH, but it needs to be safe.”

The MRCA attack against Malibu came at its board meeting last week … an small agenda item filed in an obscure part of the Internet… but KBUU Radio found it … recorded it … and broadcast part of it. 

And it was at that meeting last week … the MRCA’s Malibu beach access program manager blasted the current Caltrans Malibu concept. 

Elena Egger:

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“Caltrans proposes to eliminate a whopping 17.5 miles – that’s 17-1/2 miles of that 21 miles of existing public parking on PCH in some form. 

“This would have dramatic implications for the 15 million coastal visitors per year to Malibu exclusively on the availability of existing public market on PCH.”

That was a total misrepresentation of the current Caltrans draft proposal.  

Indeed 15 million coastal users visit Malibu per year … but they mostly use the large parking lot at Zuma … and other public parking lots near the Malibu Pier and lagoon.

The MRCA beach access manager’s incorrect statement came after she was a no-show at the six public hearings called by Caltrans over the last 11 months.  Had she attended those meetings … and been less interested in making Malibu look bad … she would have known that Caltrans has never proposed eliminating 17.5 miles of parking.   

In fact … Caltrans has proposed increasing the amount of parking on PCH … by adding diagonal … reverse-in parking along PCH at several popular beaches. 

And oh by the way … the new bike lanes will offer increased coastal access.  Not to mention … safer.

In the city statement Thursday … Malibu officials pointed out that the Caltrans proposal was to ban on-street parking one one side of the highway … in key beach parking areas… to reduce the pedestrian scramble in fast traffic.

A new state law requires Caltrans to add bike lanes on the state highway … as Stewart reminded the MRCA.

And those new bike lanes and pedestrian walking areas have to go somewhere …

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“We are going to have to squeeze it all in and we’re not about to do anything to harm our citizens any more than we have to.

“And we’re not happy about this. There are some places along PCH that are going to lose some parking that is essential to some of our residents.

“And we’re gonna have to figure out how to work around that and how to solve that problem.”

The city also pointed out that the proposed improvements preserve parking on the side of the highway with the highest demand, typically the beach side, while relocating parking where it creates safety risks.

Tentative plans are to install reverse-In angled parking … which would double parking capacity at high-demand areas such as Zuma Beach, Nicholas Canyon Beach, and the Malibu Pier.

And while approximately 1,535 parking spaces would be relocated under the proposed Caltrans plan … , approximately 740 new spaces would be added.

The city also points out that changes such as widened sidewalks and safer bike lanes further enhance safety for pedestrians and drivers.

And this note for historical context … 

This was not the first time that MRCA has been caught telling untruths to public bodies.

Several years ago … KBUU was rolling tape when the MRCA told the California Coastal Commission that Malibu was blocking construction of a campground … up Puerco Canyon … by requiring construction of an expensive fire access road. 

That was a requirement made by the LA County Fire Department … not the city.

KBUU pointed out the untruthful statement from the MRCA boss.

No comment from Joe Edmiston or Elena Egger.

The MRCA is installing dozens of new beach and trail access points along the Malibu coast … 

But it has failed to provide parking … or other access … and then acts surprised when another agency … Caltrans … tries to clean up its mess. 

CPUC Approves 2 Controversial Policies That Affect Malibu Ratepayers

The California Public Utilities Commission yesterday threw lifelines to two controversial energy projects that affect Malibu.

First … they granted extended permits  troubled methane storage facility that feeds Malibu .. and all of Southern California … with so called natural gas.

Then … 

The CPUC began the process of extending permits for the troubled Diablo Canyon nuclear power plan.t,an aging nuclear power plant that is 140 miles up wind from Malibu.

The Aliso Canyon methane storage area is at the north end of the San Fernando Valley… And it’s the site of the largest petroleum spill in California history.

Thousands of tons of methane were released into the air in the polluted Los Angeles basin … making people who live at the north end of Porter Ranch quite ill.

The CPUC Thursday voted for a plan that could eventually shutter the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage … but probably not for years.

The decision disappointed some local activists and residents, who want to see the site close much sooner, if not immediately.

The CPUC  voted to continue using the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility probably into the next decade.

dozens of people protested outsid the meeting in San Francisco.

Nearly 80 individuals addressed the commission either virtually or in person during a 2½-hour public comment period.

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As for the nuclear plant … Diablo Canyon is an aging facility perched on a scenic stretch of the San Luis Obispo County coastline … 140 miles upwind from Malibu., had been slated to be phased out in 2025 and 2026

California officials are alarmed by the grim prospect that energy shortages might cripple the state’s economy without Diablo Canyon,

Gov Gavin Newsom wants Diablo Canyon to stay open to keep providing a reliable flow of electricity in California as it navigates towards what state government political leaders hope is a green and clean energy future.

Power bills from San Diego to Eureka will be increased three dollars per month to pay for Diablo Canyon.

And that includes power customers in Malibu … who buy their power from a government consortium called the Clean Power Alliance.

Those bills are collected by the company that delivers power … Southern California Edison.

Power rates in California are already among the highest in the nation … second only to Hawaii.

Rate increases for P G and E in Northern California were approved to go up more than three dollars per month … last week … by the CPUC.

Think off it as the California Nuclear Tax … and it’s coming to Malibu soon. 

Monarchs Butterflies May Soon Be Listed As Endangered By Federal Government

Monarch butterflies may soon be listed as endangered but the federal government.

That’s the first step towards government protection for migratory butterflies … often seen in Malibu … but not so much in recent years. 

Cat Darst … a biologist at the federal government.   

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“What we really need is to improve future conditions so that native milkweed population stabilize and grow.

“We need to achieve a significant increase in availability of milkweed and nectar plants in the monarch breeding migratory areas. We need to protect and enhance their overwintering habitat, and then we need to avoid and minimize impact to monarchs and habitat from exposure to insecticides.”

But Darst says if you want to help by planting milkweed… make sure it’s the right kind.

She says some nurseries sell species of milkweed that are not native to southern California butterfly habitat … and these foreign plants can disrupt the butterflies migration schedule. 

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“Plant native milkweed species.

“Native milkweed species dormant in the winter time when the . So native milkweed species go dorm

“If you have a tropical species which is a native species that’s just there green all the time I can pull monarchs out of their migratory patterns and they become year-round residents.

And that’s no bueno. 

They butterflies eat too much and breed at the wrong time of the year … the pupae and young monarchs starve for lack of food. 

Reporter Lance Orozco at KCLU says the federal designation includes land just up the coast from Malibu. 

“The proposed threaten status for designating 4300 acres of land in California as critical monarch habitat includes property and Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, but the designation impact private state unless approval permits and federal funding involved to support the effort and 90 day public comment. The protection proposal is now open and runs to 2025. Lance Orozco, KCLU News.”

We should point out that incoming Trump administration officials have already targeted the Environmental Species Act to go extinct.

Good luck endangered monarchs.

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