Controversial Conservancy Park Plan Documents Now Available

• Local Coastal Plan Amendment Outlines Trail Locations and Overnight Camping Proposals

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu municipal officials are making public the documents prepared for a highly controversial request by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy for a park plan that includes overnight camping.

The city is prepared to release the proposed Local Coastal Program amendment for the so-called public park enactment plan, which focuses on inland park areas stretching from Corral Canyon to Zuma Canyon and includes Charmlee Park, which is owned and operated by the City of Malibu.

The controversial plan originally aimed for California Coastal Commission approval until the city balked at being sidestepped in the planning process. The threat of litigation ensued on both sides and the city and the SMMC entered into settlement talks to avert going to court.

The plan, at the time, included overnight camping in several canyons and a compromise was reached to consider overnight camping in Charmlee that according to SMMC head Joe Edmiston was one of the carrots used by the city to induce the state agency to submit its application before the city.

The proposed plan is intended to provide policies and implementation actions to complete trail connections for the Coastal Slope Trail and other connector trails through the mountain areas, which include trail connections from the National Park Service owned Zuma Trancas canyonlands and Solstice Canyon Park through Escondido Canyon Park and finally to Corral Canyon Park owned by the Conservancy.

The plan, according to city planners, provides methods for establishing trail connections and filling “missing links” of the Coastal Slope Trail and connector trails and “to ensure adjacent lands are protected as natural and scenic areas to enhance the recreational experience of trail corridors.”

The document identifies specific public access, recreational facilities and program improvements for the four park properties. The proposed improvements, according to municipal planners, include parking, camp areas within existing park boundaries and trail improvements to support existing recreational demand with the park properties and “to facilitate an increased level of accessibility for visitors with disabilities, including fully accessible overnight camping.”

The plan also addresses creek restoration and park administration and public program uses at Ramirez Canyon Park where the SMMC is headquartered.

The draft document is located on the city’s website at www.ci. malibu.ca.us. Hard copies of the draft plan are also available for review at Malibu City Hall and the Malibu Public Library.