Local News in Brief : Judge Orders Study on Malibu Cityhood

A Superior Court judge Wednesday delayed action on a Malibu cityhood proposal until an environmental study is prepared on what the new city’s impact would be on sewage and traffic enforcement problems.

Judge Miriam Vogel, ruling on a lawsuit by a Malibu landowner, ordered a limited environmental impact report focusing on two issues: the possibility that the new city would not build a sewage system, as is being proposed by Los Angeles County, and the proposed boundaries’ effect on Pacific Coast Highway traffic enforcement.

Leaders of the Malibu Committee for Incorporation had hoped to put their cityhood referendum on the March 7 ballot. They said the environmental study will delay the vote until at least June 6, according to committee spokesman Mike Caggiano. A Dec. 6 Board of Supervisors’ hearing to set the election date will also be postponed.

The lawsuit, filed by Chris Kolodziejski, sought to overturn the Local Agency Formation Committee’s approval of the incorporation proposal last May because the action was taken without a full environmental study.