Bid to Delay Malibu Cityhood if OKd by Voters Is Rejected : Incorporation: The judge’s ruling against county supervisors increases the likelihood of a legal challenge to a planned sewer system there.

A Superior Court judge Wednesday struck down an attempt by Los Angeles County supervisors to delay Malibu’s incorporation as a city until March if voters approve cityhood next month.

The decision by Judge John Zebrowski means that, if cityhood passes on June 5, Malibu may incorporate by late June or early July. It also greatly increases the likelihood of an early legal challenge to the county’s efforts to install a sewer system there.

Jubilant cityhood supporters, many of whom have long opposed the county’s sewer plans as a prelude to widespread development, said the decision gives them a “new lease on life” in fighting the sewer.

“No one can say who will be elected, but if some of us are, we’re going to take the fight to them right away,” said Walt Keller, one of 31 city council candidates. Voters will vote for a five-member council at the same time they decide on cityhood.

Lawyers for the county indicated that they plan to appeal the judge’s decision.

The supervisors, under a court order to stop stalling and set the election date, imposed the delay in March as a condition to the setting of the election. The maneuver was unprecedented in the county. Ordinarily, once voters approve, incorporation occurs when the election results are certified, usually about a month after the vote.

County officials had hoped that by delaying the actual incorporation date until next year, it would give them time to start work on the sewer system before a new local government had the chance to block it.

But Zebrowski sided with lawyers for cityhood backers in ruling that the supervisors did not have the authority to impose the delay.

State law allows for the Local Agency Formation Commission, which oversees the transition of communities to cities, to delay an incorporation up to a year after the certification of votes. In approving Malibu’s election bid last year, LAFCO imposed no such condition. Lawyers for the county argued that in the absence of LAFCO’s doing so, state law gave the supervisors the right to delay cityhood.

As proposed, the 20-square-mile city would stretch along the coast from Topanga Canyon to Leo Carrillo State Beach and nearly a mile inland. It would have a population of about 25,000, with about 8,300 registered voters.

Despite the setback, county officials said Wednesday they intend to go forward with the sewer system, and expressed confidence that a new Malibu government would be unable to stop it.

As part of LAFCO’s approval of Malibu’s cityhood bid last year, the county is to retain jurisdiction of any sewer system for up to 10 years after Malibu incorporates. “We feel we’re on firm ground with the LAFCO condition,” Assistant County Counsel Bill Pellman said.

“Some people in Malibu are obviously going to try to prevent us, but we’re going forward with the sewer as expeditiously as possible, and we’re confident it will be built,” he said.

County officials have long argued that a sewer system is needed in Malibu based on staff studies that, they say, document a “significant health hazard” because of discharges from malfunctioning septic tanks. Sewer opponents accuse the county of overstating its claims.