Fire In Orange County Looks Like Volcano From Malibu, As Mt Baldy Ski Area and Big Bear Threatened

The big mountain on the horizon southeast of Malibu may look like a volcanic eruption today.

The mountains above Santa Ana exploded into flame yesterday.

A fire broke out about 1 p.m. Monday near a remote-controlled airplane airport on Trabuco Creek Road. 

The flames exploded into more than 5,400 acres within 8 hours by Sunday. 

And it burned 85 hundred acres by sunset.

As of mid morning…  it swelled to more than 9,000 acres … and it was threatening the critical public safety and TV relay stations at the top of Saddleback Peak. 

It’s called the Airport Fire.

County workers started the fire accidentally … they were placing boulders on a road to close an area due to fire danger … that sparked the blaze.

Two other big fires on Southern California continue to churn.

The Bridge Fire … in Azusa Canyon … is at 38 thousand acres with zero percent containment.

It’s burning towards the ski area at Mount Baldy … and the Mt Baldy Village resort. 

And east of San Bernardino … the Line Fire is still burning towards Running Springs and Arrowbear … 

Winds from the southwest were expected to push the flames through steep terrain and dry brush to the northeast … towards the Arctic Circle section of Highway 18 and the City of Big Bear in the next 36 hours.

An evacuation warning was issued for the Big Bear Dam area “out of an abundance of caution” … firefighters said. None of these fires are affecting Malibu … other than soaking up firefighting resources.

Hot Weather Bedevils Malibu One More Day And One More Night

It was still hot overnight in the upper elevations of Malibu.

And windy.   Gusts above 25 miles an hour in some places last night. 

Te overnight low at the top of Latigo Canyon Road was 87 degrees …. after an afternoon high of “just a hair” under 100.

Camp 8 … at the top of las Flores Canyon … hit 102 yesterday … and a low of 86.

The heat wave broke down at the coast … with lows around 65.

Excessive heat warnings remain up until 10 tonight.

A significant cooling trend will begin tonight. 

But critical fire weather conditions will linger into Wednesday. 

Owner Loses Last Minute Plea To Salvage A Smaller Motel at Malibu Inn, Grisanti Apologizes For Voting For Hotel

Malibu’s city council last night closed the case on the proposed gigantic hotel across from the Malibu Pier.

By a 5 to nothing vote … the council slammed the door shut … And like any other zoning case in Malibu … the landowners have the right to file for a different … read smaller … project in one year.

But thew owners in this case have a big problem. 

Because  the city council finalized the rejection of the application … the owners will fall into a ban on construction in the Civic Center area.

That ban was imposed by the State Water Board … until a new phase of the Civic Center sewage project is extended. 

The city council’s vote last night effectively means … the land cannot be built on for years.

And landowner Steve Hakim last night begged the city council to keep the door open.

70574 HAKIM FAIR SHOT

“We feel that what we’re asking floor tonight is a modest ask. 

“We take a lot of pride for being community city members here in Malibu for a lot of years.

“We don’t feel that we got a fair shot.”

Hakim said the lack of a fair shot was the city council’s refusal to allow the project to be withdrawn at the very last minute … before the council voted to kill it.

His architect … Doug Burdge … said keeping the door open would result in the Hakims coming back with a really nice … small motel.  And that in turn would reduce the city’s need to have short term rentals scattered around town to provide overnight lodging for coastal visitors.

Burdge said the city council should have offered him the opportunity to redesign a smaller motel … 

70567 BURDGE OFFER

“We think we should have had this opportunity (to refile).  We’ve been offered this opportunity through the city’s history that I’ve been a part off .

“So I just hope the Council can understand that.

“What have we got to lose … because we still have to go through the regular process.”

Too late.   The council said the Hakims had their one bite of the apple … and bit off more than the city council could chew. 

Jo Drummond … president of the Malibu Township Council … said last night the time for such a compromise had come and gone.

70566 DRUMMOND HAKIM

“I understand it takes a unanimous decision to rehear a hearing, and I would hope that wouldn’t happen. The Hakim’s have had a decade to have put in a project that would’ve been approved, but they did not.”

So by 5-0 vote last night … the Malibu City Council formally affirmed its decision to deny the request for the proposed hotel.

And by that decision … they closed the door to plans for a smaller new motel to have been brought back by the Hakims … until the construction moratorium at the Civic Center is ended by the construction of the new sewer lines. 

The landowner… Steve Hakim… said that is depriving him of all economic benefit of using the land.  Under federal court decisions … that would be an unconstitutional taking… a seizure of private property.

70575 HAKIM ECON LOSS

“This was approved by the planning commission, this was supported by the staff. Approving the resolution in its current form, shows an utter intent, in our opinion, to render this site almost economically a total economic loss.”

And that certainly sounds like the threat of a lawsuit.

Grisanti Flip Flops On Hotel Vote, Apologizes

City council member Paul Grisanti last night tried to explain why he voted in favor of the hotel … when it first came before the council last summer. 

Grisanti is running for reelection … and has come under heavy criticism for that vote.

Last night .. he apologized for the vote .. and said he meant to vote against the hotel project , but in favor of a smaller motel project.

70565 PG APOLOGY

“It was a very chaotic situation that went way too long, way too much emotion and way too much shouting, and not behaving properly.”

He went on to say that he really wanted to vote for a small hotel on the site, and not the giant hotel that the Hakim’s had proposed for the site.

But that’s not the way his vote came out, he said.

70565B PG APOLOGY

“I think most people would rather have a motel in one location, rather than 20 individual short term rentals, one in each neighborhood. 

“And I was not sufficiently capable of making that point that night, and I apologize for that.

One of the people he’s running against … Bruce Silverstein … said he needed to hear that again. 

70563 SAY WHAT

SILVERSTEIN: “Well, I’m just confused by that. I just like to understand if that means Paul really meant to vote against the project, because he sounded like it didn’t comply with our rules. He voted in favored I don’t understand that.”

GRISANTI: “I voted that in favor as a protest more about the hearing process than anything else.”

Councilmember Paul Gante, explaining an apparent flip-flop on his vote over the controversial proposed hotel at the Malibu Inn.

All five council members agreed last night that a small motel should be built next to the Malibu Inn. 

Crimes Drop In Malibu, Particularly Thefts and Burglaries From Cars

Crime continues to drop in Malibu.

307 part one crimes 321 prior year.  4-1/2 percent decrease.

Sgt Chris Soderlund

70570 CRIME DOWN 

“We saw a major reduction in vehicle burglaries, with 21 less vehicle burglaries year to date compared to the same time last year, as well as thefts from vehicles, with 8 less.

“And we’re still trending downward, so I’m happy to see that.”

Council Unhappy That County Supes Will Not Allow Deputies To Arrest Hardcore Homeless

Malibu has an ordinance … a municipal law … that prohibits campers on the highway.

But Malibu does not have its own police department or jail … we hire the sheriff’s department to enforce city laws.

And the governor has ordered state agencies to remove homeless encampments from state property 

Council member Steve Uhring … however … is not happy with the LA County sheriff’s office.

He says the city is paying the sheriff to be the local police department …

70568 SU HOMELESS

“We’re paying the sheriff, right?

“I mean, there are rules that you guys can enforce, and it doesn’t appear that you’re willing to enforce those rules as they were laid down by the governor. And that’s just a strange situation.

“I’ve never had people I pay before who say ‘I’m not going to do that.’ “

While the county won’t arrest homeless persons … their campers can be towed if the owners flagrantly violate Malibu’s rules. 

Councilman Bruce Silverstein says city ordinances need to tightened up … and new signs need to be put up. 

That however means getting approval from the Coastal Commission … which is anxious to preserve coastal access. 

Last night … all five council members agreed to start the legal process … to tighten the rules. 

Malibu High Sharksports Chum

Girls tennis  … Fillmore at home …. 3 p-m. today.

Boys Water Polo …. Brentwood at home … 3 p-m today.