Malibu OKs Development Plan for PCH Parcel

After months of public hearings and haggling, the Malibu City Council has approved a revised agreement that could determine how the seaside community’s choicest remaining parcels are developed over the next two decades.

The chief provision of the pact gives the city of Malibu three years to raise $25 million to buy the Chili Cook-Off Site, the location of the annual Labor Day event along Pacific Coast Highway. The property owner is Malibu Bay Co., a development firm owned by A. Jerrold Perenchio, head of Univision, the Spanish-language television network, and his family.

If the city cannot secure the funds, Malibu Bay would have the right to develop the property under an original plan that would allow 155,000 square feet of new commercial space in addition to the 30,000 that is there now. Last week, planning commissioners objected to the original plan as allowing more development than Malibu can support.

Voters will be asked to weigh in on the deal Nov. 4.

The 5-0 council vote, taken late Monday, angered Malibu activists, who contended that the council reached its decision without adequate information and public scrutiny. For example, activists said, the city says it is considering putting a wastewater treatment facility at the site but as of now is offering no details.

“It still appears to be a crapshoot,” said Steve Uhring, a co-founder of Malibu CAN, a group that advocates slow growth. “If we don’t buy the property, then Malibu Bay Co. gets to build.”

He said the complexities will make it difficult to explain the deal to voters before the November election.

Planning Commissioner Robert Adler agreed that the default provision is problematic. The original plan, he said, “was basically overdevelopment for Malibu. It far exceeded the needs [and] would have really strained the city budget to try and deal with the inherent public expenses of traffic, police, fire, water usage and wastewater.”

Malibu already has a serious sewage problem. Studies have shown that the city’s overly taxed septic systems are contributing to pollution in Malibu Creek, Malibu Lagoon and even famed Surfrider Beach. Residents of the city have fought efforts to bring in sewers, fearing an onslaught of development.

To aid in its negotiations with Malibu Bay Co., the city commissioned a study of the feasibility of building a wastewater treatment facility on the Chili Cook-Off Site, which features 17 acres of open field. Plans also call for recreational facilities such as ball fields and trails.

“Assuming we get a positive outcome from the voters,” City Manager Katie Lichtig said, “our objective is to begin to put together a plan that is more specific in nature.”

Lichtig said the city is optimistic that it will get funding from state agencies. Among agencies that have expressed “conceptual support,” she said, are the Resources Agency, the California Coastal Conservancy, the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Water Resources Control Board. Heal the Bay, an environmental group, also supports the idea.

Under the development agreement, Malibu Bay Co. agreed to preserve 25 of its 110 acres as open space.