Malibu : Building Law Protested

More than 50 residents turned out for a special City Council meeting Tuesday to protest the council’s plan to enact a temporary law restricting new construction. The law would replace a building moratorium that expires next month.

The council is in the final stages of a page-by-page review of a new law that it is rushing to put into effect by the time the moratorium expires March 25. The moratorium was passed two years ago when the city incorporated.

If approved, the interim law will act as a stopgap measure to regulate new development at least until September, when a citizens panel is expected to introduce the city’s General Plan. However, if no temporary law is passed when the moratorium expires, the city’s zoning regulations will revert to the more permissive Los Angeles County zoning laws that were in place before incorporation. The council is expected to continue deliberating on the law in meetings at least through this week.

Some residents complained Tuesday that they had been unable to get a copy of the draft document until hours before the public hearing. Others said their properties were being rezoned to allow less intensive uses without their knowledge. One long-term resident said that at least with the county, he had always been informed by mail of zoning changes affecting his property.

Councilman Jeff Kramer said he thinks the public has “a legitimate concern about the lack of time the ordinance has been available for public review,” but he said the council is faced with the choice of either passing an interim law on short notice or opening the pipeline for development the city does not want.

Mayor Keller emphasized that the interim law is not cast in stone. “We can go on amending the ordinance over the next few months.”