Charmlee Park Camping Still on the Negotiating Table

• West Malibu Residents Say They Are Being Put in Fire Danger to Appease Conservancy

BY BILL KOENEKER

Despite pleas from homeowner association members, west Malibu residents and Charmlee Park supporters, the Malibu City Council last week declined to take overnight camping in Charmlee off the negotiating table with the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy on its proposed public works plan. The two agencies are apparently making an effort to avoid going to the courtroom despite pending litigation between the two parties by engaging in a lengthy set of discussions.

The council, on a 4-1 vote, with Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulrich dissenting, approved a proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the city and the conservancy and directed the city attorney to file what is called a stipulated preliminary injunction and stay of litigation in the case.

In what was described as an unusual display of openness in local government, the council and its city attorney conducted their closed session in the open combined with a public hearing before any action was taken. City Attorney Christi Hogin cited the long history of contention between the city, the conservancy and the homeowners in Ramirez Canyon, who have objected to how the SMMC uses its headquarters, the former residential compound of Barbra Streisand.

The city attorney said the MOU does not resolve all of the problems the two agencies face, but would create an opportunity for the conservancy and the city to share a dialogue.

Hogin said what the MOU would do is stay the litigation, while the SMMC would rescind the public works plan—a proposal that would connect trails and overnight campsites in Corral, Escondido, Solstice and Ramirez canyons, and includes increased activities at SMMC headquarters.

Additionally, the Conservancy would agree to apply for a Local Coastal Program amendment, which would have to be approved by the city and certified by the California Coastal Commission. “Most of the public works plan will probably be in the LCPA,” added Hogin, who said the overnight camping at Charmlee was one of many options that were put on the table to show good faith to conservancy officials.

But it might have been the city attorney’s comment that the MOU called for eliminating overnight camping in the aforementioned canyons “because of fire hazard,” that seemed to leave many west Malibu residents and those who live near Charmlee slack jawed.

Many west end residents filled the council chambers. Some spoke about how there was no difference between the hazards in mid-Malibu and west Malibu where there are just as many homes downwind and in the path of any fire that starts in Charmlee.

If a fire started in the area and traveling southeast, it could burn all the way through to Broad Beach on its way to the sea.

Lucille Keller, who spoke on behalf of the Malibu Township Council, talked about the hundreds of homes and thousands of residents who would be impacted by any fire in the park. “Charmlee is close to the population areas of west Malibu. It puts several thousand people at risk,” she said.

However, the majority of the council insisted the opportunity to bring the conservancy and its executive director Joe Edmiston to the table was too great to risk taking any option off it.

Edmiston was characterized as a “snake” by one speaker, who said, “He has already bitten you,” to a council member who countered Edmiston is a “runaway bride who we just got to the altar.”

Councilmember Jeff Jennings elaborated on the position of the city and the SMMC. “This is of itself a victory. Joe has taken a big step. The conservancy and the city are close to a complete resolution of the problem,” he said.

Councilmember Andy Stern agreed. “I think this is a huge victory. What you didn’t want is a public works plan. The conservancy has rescinded that. What we are accomplishing is huge,” he said.

Conley Ulich took a different tack, saying the action might be a victory for those in the mid-Malibu canyons, but did little for folks living near Charmlee Park.

The lone dissenting member said there are many campsites already in the 90265 zip code, and that other alternatives, such as expanding camping at Leo Carrillo State Park, should be explored. She also indicated that expanded use of the city’s park shuttle at the headlands should also be discussed.

Conley Ulich introduced a motion to eliminate the section dealing with overnight camping in the MOU, but could not get a second on the motion for a vote.

Councilmember Sharon Barovsky said she would not vote for any overnight camping proposal unless it could be proven safe. “I am aware of fire. But I don’t want to take anything off the table,” she said.

Mayor Ken Kearsley was even more laudatory about the summit between Edmiston and municipal officials. “This is Nixon going to China. All through the [cityhood] debate, the thing we wanted the most was local control. To guide our own destiny. The public works plan there was no local control. This is not about camping. That is just one of the possibilities. We have to talk. This is the first step. Then we can talk about camping. If we have camping, we have to make sure it is controlled. We want to stop that thinking that we are exclusive. That environment is for everybody. I am going to support this,” the mayor said.

“I am not Nixon, and I am not going to support it,” proclaimed Conley Ulich.