Court Asked to Prevent Incorporation Delay
Malibu cityhood advocates asked a state appeals court Wednesday to prevent Los Angeles County from further delaying the incorporation of the seaside community, but the three-judge panel did not give them any encouragement.
The judges were not expected to rule on the matter for several days. However, their comments clearly favored the county as having the right to delay incorporation until March.
“It was not encouraging,” said Walt Keller, a member of Malibu’s future City Council.
The matter is of crucial importance to the county, which wants to start work on a controversial $43-million sewer system in Malibu before a new city government has the chance to block it. Voters overwhelmingly approved cityhood last month, and all five of the future council members have said they will oppose the sewer.
Regardless of what the three-judge panel decides, the matter will almost certainly be appealed to the California Supreme Court.
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