Luminaries Blaze Into Court Over Malibu Beach Swap

Trouble is a-brewing in the ‘bu. The Malibu real estate market is hot, hot, hot. And for longtime residents, that means more construction, more noise, more tourists, more traffic and assorted other assaults on beach town quality of life. And we all know what that means: more litigation.

The ongoing dispute over plans by Mayor Richard Riordan’s wife, Nancy Daly, and the couple’s well-heeled pals hit the courts again when the La Costa Beach Homeowners Assn. sued the California Coastal Commission and the Coastal Conservancy. The suits seek to overturn the agencies’ approval of plans for Daly et. al. to donate a rocky slice of La Costa beachfront to the public in exchange for the right to build three view-blocking mega-mansions at nearby Carbon Beach.

Carbon Beach, by the way, is known by locals as “Deal Beach” because it’s a favorite of movie moguls. But La Costa Beach has its fair share of luminaries, too. Among the homeowners filing suit were producer Aaron Spelling and his wife, Candy, and actor Ryan O’Neal.

The homeowners, represented by Patricia L. Glaser, charge that the Coastal Commission pushed the Daly deal through without adequate public notice. The homeowners contend that the two agencies, whose duty is to protect the coast, held “sham” public hearings.

It’s not a fair swap, court papers say: The La Costa beach lot is rocky and situated at the end of Pacific Coast Highway’s most perilous blind curve. And then there’s the matter of those fierce riptides, the homeowners allege.

The homeowners are asking a Los Angeles Superior Court judge to overturn the public “gift.” No hearing date has been set.

*

THE WAY WE WERE: Meanwhile, the city of Malibu has sued the Coastal Commission and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy over plans to expand public use of Barbra Streisand’s old digs on Ramirez Canyon Road.

La Strident, you might recall, donated 22.5 acres and five buildings to the conservancy in 1993 before assembling her blufftop compound at Point Dume, where she is ensconced with new hubby James Brolin.

The suit charges that the conservancy has skirted the permitting process as it rents out the estate to large crowds, paying no heed to complaints from the city and neighbors. A judge in Ventura County recently issued an injunction barring commercial use of the property because no permits had been obtained.

Now the city is suing in Los Angeles Superior Court, charging that the Coastal Commission has given the conservancy favored treatment in expediting its permits. The commission’s staff recommended continued public use of the estate for weddings, benefits and parties. “Conservancy was afforded favored treatment as a state agency, which would never have been allowed a private developer,” the city complained.

The city is asking a judge for, among other things, an injunction and abatement of a public nuisance. A Coastal Commission lawyer was unavailable for comment.

*

IT’S A MAN’S WORLD: A woman who headed up James Brown’s West Coast operations says in a lawsuit that wearing zebra-striped underwear and letting the Godfather of Soul massage her with body oil wasn’t part of the job description.

Meeting with radio producers was. And booking gigs for the boss certainly was, too. But Lisa Ross Agbalaya says she drew the line at having sex with the boss. As a result, Agbalaya charges, she was fired in February after nearly seven years on the job.

She’s seeking $2 million in damages.

“It appears that ‘Sex Machine’ is more than simply a title to one of James Brown’s many hit records; it would also appear to be a description for James Brown the man,” says the suit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court. The suit went on to say that Brown is well known for smoking marijuana and demanding sex from his female employees.

Even though she was married and a mother of two, Agbalaya says, Brown told her she was “built like a stallion, just right for riding.” He told Agbalaya and her assistant not to change their underwear in front of hotel mirrors “because the government was watching and would catch them,” according to the suit, which names Brown, the New James Brown Enterprises Inc. and James Brown West as defendants.

When she complained, Agbalaya said, she was told, “That was simply how James Brown was.”

Brown’s lawyer denied the allegations, saying they were lodged by a “disgruntled” employee looking for money.

*

DOUBLE VISION: To become Pamela Anderson’s “VIP” stunt double, Julie Michaels went through some changes. She dyed her hair, had tattoos painted on, and yes, she underwent surgery to enhance certain physical attributes.

Michaels shot 16 episodes before breaking her back during a stunt, she says, and missed five episodes of the 1998 season while recovering.

Now she’s suing the show’s producers in Los Angeles Superior Court for unspecified damages, charging that she was wrongfully fired in retaliation for going on disability for her injury. When she was cleared to return to work a year ago, she charged, producer Larry Rappaport said the show had “decided to go in a different direction.”

Michaels says that her role as Anderson’s stunt double was compensation for helping come up with the show’s premise.

Named as defendants were “VIP” producers Rappaport and Morgan Gindal and Lafitte Productions Inc. They could not be reached for comment.