Cher Sues Malibu for Rejecting House Plan : Development: Officials say a permit was denied because the building would be too close to a bluff top. A lawyer for the celebrity says the city regulation applies only to beachfront properties.

Cher has sued the city of Malibu, contesting the denial of her application to build a new home on a bluff overlooking the beach.

The suit, apparently the first against Malibu by one of its celebrity residents since the city became incorporated last year, had been hinted at in September by the entertainer’s attorneys. The City Council voted then to uphold the Planning Department’s denial of a building permit.

Cher is seeking permission to build a 16,000-square-foot complex on Pacific Coast Highway near Puerco Canyon. Her plans call for a two-story main house, attached guest quarters, a gymnasium, tennis court, pool and five-car garage.

After the council’s vote, architects retained by Cher began discussing with city officials ways to modify the plans to satisfy city concerns that it would be situated too close to a bluff top.

Although those negotiations are continuing, attorneys for Cher filed the suit Oct. 27 in Los Angeles Superior Court.

“We had to file the lawsuit just to protect her,” attorney Naomi Norwood said Friday.

Norwood said the negotiations center on whether the architectural plans can be modified to meet city concerns as well as protect Cher.

Cher, who lives in Point Dume, was touring in Europe this week and unavailable for comment. City Manager Ray Taylor declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Malibu’s position, however, was explained in September by City Planner Bob Benard after the council vote: City officials believe the plans put the home too close to the edge of the bluff.

“The issue is determination of where the top of the bluff is,” Benard said. He said discussions with the architects included moving one wing of the home onto a flatter part of land, a “small adjustment” to another part of the house and changing the plans for the second story.

The city’s denial of Cher’s plans, Benard said, was based on the Malibu Land Use Plan, approved by Los Angeles County before the city became incorporated. That plan requires 25-foot setbacks from bluff tops.

Norwood said her interpretation of the setback requirement is that it applies to beachfront land, and that Cher’s property is separated from the beach by Malibu Road and an abandoned portion of Puerco Canyon Road.

According to the lawsuit, Cher’s plans were approved by the county and by the California Coastal Commission prior to Malibu’s incorporation on March 28, 1991.

As one of it first acts after incorporation, the City Council imposed a building moratorium but exempted certain projects that had prior approvals. Cher’s lawsuit maintains that her project was exempted.

Architect Scott Carter of Pacific Palisades said that Cher’s home has been in the works for three years.

“This project has had continuous government review,” he said Friday. “We went absolutely right down the line to follow regulations given to us.”

Attorney Norwood said she did not believe that Cher’s celebrity status has had any bearing on the review process.

“She’s just a property owner in this matter,” Norwood said. She said the size of the house had more of an effect on the city’s decision than the person who owns it.

“It certainly won’t matter to the court” who owns the property, Norwood said.