• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Closure of PCH Has Malibuites Fuming

BY ANNE SOBLE

Malibuites are an entertaining lot, not just because we provide a disproportionate amount of subject matter for the media, but because our homes are centers for family and business social events that can involve crowds—large crowds. My neighbors and I have thrown our share of mega ranch shindigs, replete with barbecues on an eight-foot diameter fire pit, country fiddlers and other Western trappings, but we ensure that others are not impacted by our festivities. Perhaps that was what a local resident thought he was doing when he obtained an encroachment permit from the California Department of Transportation to shut down part of a lane on Pacific Coast Highway to facilitate guest arrival for a private function. Caltrans granted the permit four days before the event—more than enough time to issue a press release or inform the City of Malibu that a closure was planned for a weekend day during what is traditionally one of the warmest months of the year and mere days after a record-setting, triple-digit heat wave engulfed the Southland. However, the agency didn’t think that notice was warranted. The agency was wrong.

From the irate members of the Malibu City Council at Monday night’s meeting to the equally vocal stream of motorists on the slow-moving highway who were late for family functions and myriad other Saturday happenings, notice was certainly in order. As a result, the whole notion of private co-opting of public right-of-way is now under fire. The mayor said, “It is just amazing that Caltrans would do this.” More amazing is that the same Caltrans personnel who issue an alert every time crews adjust a traffic signal don’t appear to understand the fuss. These same personnel are also scrambling to explain what the agency does when someone obtains a permit and disregards its terms, further compounding congestion on the community’s overtaxed traffic lifeline.

Is this going to be yet another bureaucratic bungle that gets shrugged off in the hope that the public will quickly forget? And time will tell whether council members follow through on their concerns. In the interim, Malibuites should be alerted that there will be lane closures in the Zuma Beach area on Sunday, from 4 a.m. or so until the competitions conclude in the 21st Annual Malibu Triathlon. This isn’t somebody’s private indulgence, it’s a public event to raise money for good causes. Signs are starting to go up, and areas are being posted. The Caltrans permit people should come on out and see how it’s done.