Highway Patrol Sets Its ‘Cites’ on Malibu Mountain Road Safety

• Area Commander Forms Specialized Team to End Traffic Woes on the ‘Malibu Le Mans’

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Jabel Hafeet Mountain Road in the United Arab Emirates may rank higher, as does the Nürburgring Nordschleife (The Ring) in Germany, but for many aficionados of the cult of the speedometer, there are few American roads that are designed for canyon runs like Mulholland Highway as it wends its way through the Santa Monica Mountains to the beach at Leo Carrillo State Park.

The so-called canyon carvers, those who drive down mountain roads as fast as they can for the pleasure of it, extol Mulholland’s speedometer quotient on motorcycle and racing Internet sites with adjectives usually reserved for more intimate activities. It’s the Malibu version of the now outlawed Targa Florio.

But if the California Highway Patrol West Valley Area crew has its way, the days of local road rapture are drawing to a close. The new WVA commander has gone on record as implementing a zero tolerance policy with regard to speeding, illegal passing and other traffic violations.

Captain Stephen Webb said, “We are not going to stand for people endangering other people’s lives...and are going to apply the resources to make sure everyone clearly understands that ‘Operation Safe Canyons’ is not just rhetoric.”

Webb, a 23-year CHP veteran, who has garnered media attention for his ticket-writing prowess over the years, has been at West Valley for less than three months, but many residents say he has responded to concerns about canyon road safety to a greater degree than his predecessors.

Last Sunday, in the first of what are expected to be ongoing traffic watches in the Malibu mountains, Webb and a team of motorcycle and vehicle personnel, supported by the CHP helicopter, wrote about 75 citations. These were primarily for speeding, but included exhaust noise violations and a host of other road safety offenses.

Webb said drivers are bombarded by high-end (and not so high-end) automotive advertising that promotes speed over safety. It shows. He said that so far this year, there have been more than 60 major traffic accidents and two fatalities in the immediate vicinty.

Now, an infusion of federal, state and county dollars are expected to contribute to an increased effort, prompted by vociferous citizen protest in the Malibu Surfside News and other media.

Operation Safe Canyons includes the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department in areas under its jurisdiction and has been strongly endorsed by all local elected officials.

But many residents report that the program has never been as proactive as it was last weekend.
SETTING SIGHTS—CHP Officer Christopher Swanberg focuses a handheld LIDAR unit on a stretch of roadway. LIDAR, or Light Detection and Ranging, uses laser energy to measure speed with even greater accuracy than radar.
ZERO TOLERANCE—Captain Stephen Webb (far right) goes over strategy with the special Operation Safe Canyons enforcement team on Sunday. Webb says the California Highway Patrol will have a strong ground and air presence at different times and different locations in the Santa Monica Mountains every weekend from now through October.

IN FLAGRANTE—Lt. Andy James and Officer Joe Vach write up the driver of a Ferrari F430 for speeding. The Berlinetta was stopped on a part of the road that is completely covered with skidmarks left by exhibitionist drivers putting lives at risk

Caltrans Installs Channelizers at Zuma Beach Stretch of PCH

• Temporary Measure Is Expected to Inhibit U-Turns Until a Concrete Center Curb Is Built

BY ANNE SOBLE

State Department of Transportation crews worked through the night on Tuesday to install channelization along a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway across from Zuma Beach that has seen three traffic deaths stemming from illegal U-turns in five months.

With one lane of PCH closed and heavy lighting equipment transforming night into day, a row of what are sometimes referred to as candlesticks, or yellow reflector sticks, was put in approximately 16-foot intervals between Morning View Drive and Guernsey Avenue to serve as a temporary barrier until Caltrans can finalize the funding to put in a raised concrete barrier.

The channelizers, the generic term for several types of traffic barriers with varying degrees of flexibility so they can be driven over by emergency vehicles, are viewed as the first step in addressing U-turn concerns for the location, according to Judy Gish, a spokesperson for the Caltrans region that serves Malibu.

Gish did not know why this type of channelizer with this degree of spacing was selected and said that the engineering information on which the decision was based would be made available. Candlesticks cost about one-third less that the more visible paddle posts and closer intervals would also have increased the price tag.SYMBOLISM—Caltrans crews worked late Tuesday night and pre-dawn Wednesday to install candlestick reflectors as a temporary safety measure on a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway across from Zuma beach where illegal U-turn accidents have claimed three lives in recent months. However, as evident above from the reflector spacing when compared to this large SUV, not only are illegal U-turns easily executable but the potential for head-on collisions is not diminished.

BARRIERS—Caltrans has used other types of channelizers, sturdier and more closely spaced, on nearby stretches of PCH. MSN Photos/George Hauptman

Council Debates Look for Cross Creek Road

• Former Adversaries Return for Appeal of Malibu Colony House Construction

BY BILL KOENEKER

It was supposed to be a consent item of the contract bid recommended by the staff at this week’s Malibu City Council meeting for the Cross Creek Road redesign planned for the commercial hub of Malibu.

However, council members, who have seen the plans on several occasions, almost denied the $1.6 million contract and turned the agenda item into a referendum on how the Civic Center design aesthetic should shape up.

“I would like to see hitching posts and am opposed to concrete gutters and sidewalks,” said Councilmember Ken Kearsley, who insisted the street should be lined with decomposed granite walkways.

“I want to see a place for arts and history and bike racks,” added Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich.

Both Kearsley and Conley Ulich insisted the city should take the most “green” building stance possible, since the design plan for the commercial area would be scrutinized.

“I have seen the results of DG. It adds to the ambiance. It will take a load off the [storm water treatment facility]. By the way it is a thing of beauty,” added Kearsley.

As politely as possible, the staff disagreed and explained how the grit of the DG surface would clog treatment pumps and the high pedestrian traffic area would suffer problems underfoot on the dirt-like surface. Council members were also told the DG surface is not permeable and would wash off during storms and enter the treatment plant, causing problems.

“If we don’t keep it green I won’t support it. We invested too much on cleaning the creek,” added Conley Ulich.

“We need to make it as green as possible,” agreed Kearsley. “This is the start of what we want in the Civic Center. We want to set the standard for [future development]. It will help improve the environment.”

Councilmember Andy Stern attempted to put the brakes on the new direction of some of the council, after members were told a redesign of the current plans might mean losing the grant funding of the project.

“This came before us. We saw it and it came back to us. Now you are saying something different. The porous concrete seems to accomplish the goal. What else do you want?” Stern asked.

Kearsley made a motion calling for a redesign of the project, including the new DG material and other new elements for the project.

Mayor Jeff Jennings said he did not feel comfortable dictating materials, but agreed the project would be a visible one. “The design and the plan must be highly environmental. Can we go forward if we redesign it? Do you want to pass on the $700,000 grant?” asked Jennings, who said he would not support the motion because the staff insisted the grant funding might be lost.

The motion failed on a 2-2 vote with Councilmember Sharon Barovsky absent. Stern and the mayor dissented.

Stern subsequently put forth a motion calling for the staff recommendation including installing pervious earth tone colored concrete in all of the sidewalks on Cross Creek Road as well as pervious asphalt in the parking areas. The motion succeeded by a unanimous vote.

Colony Appeal Denied

It was old adversaries lining up in council chambers this week, when an appeal of permits granted by the city’s planning commission for the construction of a new home in the Colony was heard.

Malibu attorney Frank Angel, and environmental activists Marcia Hansom and Roy van de Hoek joined Steve Littlejohn in challenging the construction of a new, two-story 5200 square foot, single-family home with an attached garage, pool and spa.

“There is something terribly rotten in the planning department,” said Angel, referring to the department’s findings on the project.

Just as a reminder, Angel recapped about the past opposition to the proposed BeauRivage bed and breakfast and how the group convinced the California Coastal Commission to deny the plans that were previously approved by the city.

Angel, Hanscom and others made it clear that they believed the commission would side with them again on the issues involved in the Colony house plans.

At least one council member was convinced of Angel’s intent and the probable appeal before the coastal panel.

“The case is barely stopping here on its way to the Coastal Commission,” Jennings said.

However, most council members seemed to take umbrage at Angel’s comments about the city’s stance on its coastal policies and his remarks about the municipality and its planning department.

“It defies my imagination how someone can slam us and our staff. How is that to the client’s advantage,” said Stern.

Jennings said once the coastal agency had adopted the Local Coastal Program they made it clear it was up to the city to apply the policies. “We were given clear instructions,” he said.

Angel went on to complain that the staff report had indicated there was no expert justification for the appellants’ complaints, but the 10-page letter with attachment submitted by him was not part of the record or staff report.

It could not be found and the council took a 15-minute break to gather the info and read his letter.

Nevertheless, that did not stop the council from ultimately denying the appeal.

The biggest issue was not the house, but a row of cypress trees that were the focus of attention because of conflicting assertions by the applicant and the appellants about their value as roosting and nesting sites for birds from the nearby lagoon and how the trees may or may not be impacted by the construction.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Traffic Is Top Woe in Malibu

BY ANNE SOBLE

Malibuites can find themselves hard pressed to find much wrong with this special part of the planet, but the most universal of the local woes tend to fall under the rubric of traffic, or what engineers who specialize in this realm call circulation. The problems are two-fold. The first is that there are too many vehicles in the so-called vehicle-to-road ratio. The second is that too many vehicles in this equation don’t adhere to traffic rules, a mark of indifference to or disregard for the law. Examples of these groups are the canyon carvers, some of whom received their comeuppance in last weekend’s California Highway Patrol traffic monitoring effort. In addition to solid ground reinforcements, aerial monitoring by a CHP helicopter helped put the chill on speeding. A similar effort by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Station in Lost Hills is now in order where it has jurisdiction on Pacific Coast Highway. There too, motorcycle exhausts should be ticketed for noise violations and the speeding, irresponsible passing and exhibitionism—burnouts, wheelies, doughnuts and the like—that especially occurs west of Trancas Canyon Road can be treated accordingly. Helicopter support would also work on the coastal front.

But not all of Malibu’s traffic woes are due to transgressors. Some of the problems are a result of the “one-solution-fits-all” mentality that is endemic in infrastructure bureaucracies. The Coast Highway is a state road under the direct supervision of the Department of Transportation, more familiarly dubbed Caltrans. It can take interminable pushing and prodding to correct problems, as has been the case with the dangerous stretch of highway across from Zuma beach that is finally expected to get U-turn barriers that are sorely needed.

Another example, which Malibuites who head north over Kanan Dume Road must now appreciate, is that tens of millions of dollars of work on the Ventura Freeway ramps there has done nothing to eliminate, and may even exacerbate, the summer beach traffic backup. Last Sunday, the line headed from the beach to the freeway had slowed to a crawl from well past Mulholland. Moving access ramps to the same side of the road is the current engineering vogue, but in this case, it appears to have created a worse bottleneck.

Footloose Malibu Horse Takes the Road Less Traveled

• Local Firefighters Cut 10-Year-Old Icelandic Gelding Free from Dense Brush

BY ANNE SOBLE

With a phalanx of TV news choppers whirring overhead and the sound of reinforcement sirens piercing the air, fire crews took part in a classic Malibu melodrama last Friday that involved an unlocked gate, a rare Icelandic breed horse and dense brush more than eight feet tall.
The horse, a 10-year-old piebald gelding named Indian, and his stable mate, Castagna, wandered away from their corral when an employee on the Malibu Park property left the gate unlocked.

Icelandics are a smaller-sized registered breed, carefully maintained, that was reportedly brought to that country by the Vikings 1200 years ago. True to their usual mellow temperament, the mare stayed by the open corral but Indian headed downhill, fell into a steep ravine and became trapped in the thicket.

Fire crews used chain saws and hand tools to clear a path so the horse, which was not injured, could head back up to the corral, perhaps with less enthusiasm for the wanderer’s life.

HOMEWARD BOUND—A purebred Icelandic gelding named Indian that left its corral when the gate was accidentally left unlocked, walks away from the steep ravine in Malibu Park it had fallen into on Friday. MSN/George Hauptman

Summertime Brings Out Complaints about Banner Planes

• Legal Issues Involved in Trying to Ban Aerial Advertising Are ‘Still Very Much Up in the Air’

BY BILL KOENEKER

It must be summer when the complaints mount about parking and traffic on Pacific Coast Highway. Much the same can be said when the buzzing starts overhead from the constant drone of banner planes that advertise their wares to the millions of beachgoers.

The low flying planes buzz the crowds, advertising beer, sun lotions and other products whose manufacturers have been convinced that banner advertising produces results.

For many homeowners and residents of the coastal enclave the only result for them is a headache because of the constant back and forth presence of the low flying aircraft.

For others, the concern is one of safety. Just last year in Malibu a 56-year-old airplane towing an aerial banner made an emergency landing in a field near Trancas Canyon Road. No one was hurt in that incident.

However, at the end of last year, two banner pilots were killed in separate incidents near San Diego.

Most local officials lament there can be nothing done because of Federal Aviation Administration rules. The authorities on Oahu in Hawaii were able to prohibit aerial advertising five years ago, but that has been fought in the courts since then.

Malibu City Attorney Christi Hogin said municipal officials continue to monitor the legal situation. After Honolulu appeared to be successful in its legal battle, the city of Huntington Beach adopted a similar ordinance, which was challenged soon afterward. Four years later, in another case, the appeals court again upheld the Honolulu ordinance, but by that time the FAA had changed the rules.

“The modifications to the handbook and form are an obvious response to the court cases. The amendments delete, modify, or explain the provisions that were central to the court’s holdings. With these changes, a preemption challenge to an ordinance like Honolulu’s likely would result in a different outcome. Counsel for Honolulu expects that [the litigant] will continue to pursue its case in the district court and litigate the effect of the amendments,” said Hogin. “In the meantime, although there are now two cases upholding Honolulu’s ban, the issue is still very much up in the air.”

The city attorney said her office will monitor this “as Honolulu continues to pioneer the legal issues.”

Hogin added, given the FAA’s history on the matter, it is not possible to predict whether a court would find that the FAA has preempted the field.

“However, the FAA certainly appears to have tried to do that,” she noted.

For years beach communities have thrown up their hands in efforts to curb the noisy planes because the airspace is controlled by the FAA, which has always taken the side of the banner planes.

The banner planes are allowed to fly over stadiums and other public venues as low as 500 feet. There are a few no-fly zones, such as President Bush’s Texas ranch, nuclear submarine bases and depots where stockpiles of sarin gas and other weapons of mass destruction are kept. The only other exceptions are Disneyland and Disney World, where a controversial decision closed the airspace over the parks. The FAA decision, which was reportedly not sought by Homeland Security but directed by Congress, had the effect of banning Disney’s competitors’ aerial advertising planes and sightseeing helicopters.

In their promotional brochures, air advertisers expound on the virtues of the noise the airplanes make to capture viewers.

Aerial Banners, Inc. boasts that when an individual hears an airplane, they instinctively look up. “That is what makes this form of advertising so effective. Aerial advertising reaches people away from home and work,” the brochure states.

A spokesperson from the operations department of Camarillo Airport said about four or five banner planes fly out of the Ventura County facility each day. He suggested the airports in Santa Monica and Hawthorne also provide a venue for the banner planes.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

CHP Acknowledges Speeding Problems on Malibu Canyon Roads

BY ANNE SOBLE

Those who think that government is, as a rule, unresponsive and intransigent are all too often correct. But that doesn’t mean that prodding by constituents can never accomplish its goals. This might now be happening on a local issue. For the last few weeks, The News has been running letters from canyon residents concerned about the perils associated with speeding, illegal passing and other unsafe driving practices. The unprecedented fire danger has nerves frayed about the possibility that errant sparks could ignite a wildfire. Last week’s Notebook tried to summarize these concerns and the frustration that compounds the apprehension of those who believe that no one is paying attention to them.

On Monday, one of the first telephone calls of the day was from Captain Steve Webb of the West Valley California High Patrol Office that serves unincorporated Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains. Webb said the column “was passed around the office last Friday,” and he wanted to make an appointment to stop by and discuss what he acknowledges is “a real safety problem...one that I take very seriously.” Webb said, “I want residents and visitors to know the CHP will have zero tolerance for unsafe canyon driving.” He indicated that he will be out in the field in person this weekend to monitor the situation with backup from additional motorcycle officers and black-and-whites. In addition, a special mobile command unit will be set up and the air operations division will provide aerial support in hard-to-monitor areas.

Webb knows the “culture of the speedometer” is a difficult challenge. The West Hills CHP crew experienced the painful loss of one of their bright young colleagues behind the wheel of a speeding sports car on these very roads last year. That the current outcry could help prevent future tragedies like this compounds its merits. I welcome input from canyon residents on whether they see a difference on the roads on Saturday and Sunday. I will share these observations with the captain on Monday.

Area Caltrans Director Says Agency Will Help Ease Impact of PCH Work

• Current DOT Budget Numbers Don’t Include Funding to Address Malibu’s Proliferating Potholes

BY HANS LAETZ

The state official in charge of the Southland stretch of Pacific Coast Highway says the City of Santa Monica will not be allowed to back up traffic to and from Malibu during two construction projects by limiting work to daytime hours to spare Santa Monica residents in the work area from construction noise.

Douglas Failing, the District 7 director of the California Department of Transportation, said Monday that Caltrans will not grant Santa Monica any permits to close lanes on state-owned PCH unless those closures are limited to light-traffic periods, which will likely require evening or overnight work.

Failing made his comments during a wide-ranging interview about PCH, the 27-mile-long main street of Malibu. Failing had good news and bad news for Malibu residents, including details about imminent improvements on the San Diego (405) freeway that should reduce the number of inland commuters on PCH.

Caltrans called in reporters Monday to formally unveil details on $1.9 billion worth of improvements planned for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, including several major widenings on routes that will affect local traffic.

But as the official in charge of Malibu’s most vital public structure, Failing said he is keenly aware of almost every pothole or other problem on the 27 miles of PCH in the city, as well as the other 1050 miles of state highways in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

Failing was asked if Santa Monica’s plan to close PCH lanes for the daytime-only replacement of the California Incline bridge and stabilization of the Santa Monica bluffs would be modified by Caltrans to require nighttime work.

“I’m going to say yes,” said Failing. “I’m not sure they [Santa Monica] have that choice, the work hours are our choice.”

Failing said he was aware that Santa Monica traffic management during construction projects is a sore point for PCH commuters. That city’s sewage-line tunneling project several years ago closed two of six travel lanes on the key artery.

Santa Monica refused requests to implement reversible lanes or let through traffic use the center median lane, and caused hours-long delays throughout the three-year work period. “You moved to Malibu, you should expect to sit in traffic,” one assistant Santa Monica city manager said at the time.

This time, Santa Monica engineers indicate they intend to keep lanes open as much as possible during the two upcoming projects, which may take up to two years. But they say they cannot commit to keeping at least three lanes in each direction open during all daylight hours, even though closing lanes between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., when traffic is supposedly light, usually results in heavy delays.

In addition, Santa Monica will not commit to maintaining all three northbound lanes on a 24/7 basis by temporarily eliminating the center turn lane, used primarily by residents.

Failing said Santa Monica will be asked to cooperate with the cities of Malibu and Los Angeles, whose commuters make up the bulk of the 80,000 daily PCH trips through Santa Monica, to work on a solution. So far, that city has not done so.

POTHOLE PROBLEMS

Failing said he is aware that the pavement on PCH in several parts of Malibu is breaking down as it approaches the end of its 10-year life cycle. But he said “no project on the immediate schedule is due in that area.” The Caltrans regional director said fuel tax revenues for road maintenance are insufficient, which is a statewide problem.

Caltrans’ lead engineer, Frank Quon, said a study is nearly complete on calls for a barrier of some sort to be added to the highway at Zuma Beach, where abrupt and illegal U-turns have killed three people in the last nine months.

“We have to look at the whole corridor, and evaluate the various solutions,” said Quon, who said a decision will be made this month, and barriers possibly placed shortly afterward.

Quon and Failing said the yellow plastic bounce-back barriers used elsewhere in Malibu appear to prevent illegal turns and may be appropriate at Zuma.

During the media session, the Caltrans officials said they are cracking down whenever they find contractors closing PCH traffic lanes without permission. Workers building a new fiber-optic line along the length of PCH did not have permission Monday to cone off a southbound PCH lane in Pacific Palisades, which caused delays stretching back to Malibu.

Failing said Malibu residents can expect substantially fewer inland drivers using PCH instead of the 405 when current construction projects in West Los Angeles are finished. And he said the voters’ recent approval of statewide Proposition 1B will mean a $950 million project to complete the northbound carpool lane over Sepulveda Pass can begin construction in 2009.

Failing confessed that he could build ten times the amount of freeway lanes he has money for, and still not end congestion. But he vowed, “Most people in this region are really going to see a difference” in traffic as a result of the new building spurt.

Local drivers, he said, will benefit from several of projects to the east, including the widening of Highway 138 to four lanes in each direction between Palmdale and Victorville, a frequent shortcut for local drivers bypassing city traffic on the way to Las Vegas.

Other funded projects include widening the Santa Ana (5) Freeway in Norwalk, completing the carpool lanes on the San Bernardino (10) Freeway in the San Gabriel Valley, and adding a third lane in both directions at a choke point on U.S. 101 near the Ventura/Santa Barbara county line.

Caltrans is also chipping in on a $70 million interchange in Oxnard, which, when finished, will allow Highway 1 to be relocated from downtown Oxnard into the strawberry fields along Rice Avenue.

California Coastal Commission Says Malibu Beach Access Commitment Must Be Kept

• Promontory Stairways Ordered Built for Public Use

BY HANS LAETZ

The owners of a palatial blufftop estate above El Matador beach have to build two public staircases—up one side of a promontory and back down the other—to fulfill a beach access promise made by a previous owner, the California Coastal Commission ruled Monday.

Lawyers for the mansion owners said it would cost more than $1 million and require a barge to bring in heavy equipment to fulfill that public obligation.

Meeting in San Luis Obispo, the commission unanimously rejected a request from Graham and Brenda Revell to be allowed to get out of a deal made 27 years ago to provide the public a footway over a small headland that juts out into the water and blocks access between El Matador and El Pescador state beaches.

Attorney Alan Block said his clients should be excused from the obligation to provide access across their land because the ocean has eroded a pair of sea caves under the headlands, allowing people to stoop and crawl between the two public beaches, except during high tides.

Block said the expense of building two stairways and a path across the headlands is exorbitant. “Our experts told us we would have to barge in the heavy equipment to build this stairway,” he said, “and it would be impossible to dock the barge at this location.”

The house, at 32340 Pacific Coast Highway, is set back from the headland, which abruptly sticks out and blocks the sand just west of El Matador. Cranes and backhoes cannot be lowered to the site from above, and the bottom of the staircases would frequently be awash in high tide waves, Block said.

The attorney argued that the 1980 deal was to provide public access between the two beaches – not necessarily by constructing the staircase—and that the forces of nature had taken care of things by creating the two caves.

That argument gained no sympathy whatsoever from the commission staff, the commissioners, or beach access advocates.

Access For All director Steve Hoye pointed out that the Revells had full knowledge of the fact that the previous owner had been given a valuable concession by the state in exchange for his promise to build the two stairways.

“We gave away a vertical access way to get these two stairways, we gave a valuable gold asset and in return we got this deal from the homeowner,” Hoye testified. “But the previous owner not only built himself a private stairway, he put razor wire on it, he planted grass on the headland, and put out two lawn chairs on the public land.

“This was all known when Mr. Revell bought this property,” Hoye continued. “And it’s not just the access way along the beaches, it is also a question of the people of the state of California getting to the top of this promontory to see the beautiful vista.”

Commissioner Dan Secord noted that the Revells did not offer the people of California anything in exchange for being excused from the deal. “The disclosure of the obligation was properly made, the condition was filed and recorded, and I don’t see how there is any wiggle room.”

Commission executive director Peter Douglas left open the door for more negotiations when he said the applicants are always welcome to come up with some sort of acceptable alternate access plan.

Commissioners noted that one of the caves is four feet high, and the other one awash with surf except at very low tides. And they agreed with a staff report that said property owners cannot flaunt a promise for 27 years and then claim the commitment is too expensive or impractical to honor.

In other action, the commission formally ended a battle with entertainment mogul David Geffen over public access next to his Carbon Beach house. The commission formally accepted a plan worked out by Access For All, a public beach advocacy group, and the famed producer.

Geffen has been allowed to keep a small stairway on public land to the beach, and the public was given permanent rights to use an access way to the beach next to his house, at 22126 PCH.

Access for All’s Hoye praised Geffen at the commission meeting: “Mr. Geffen has been a pleasure to work with, and he did the right thing,” Hoye said.

Hoye’s group opened the access way two years ago.

Santa Monica Mountains Horse Facility Gets Reprieve Despite Pollution Concerns

BY HANS LAETZ

A controversy that pitted equestrians against surfers and open space advocates ended this week when the California Coastal Commission backed off its lengthy effort to relocate a large horse stable and arena complex from its longtime Mulholland Highway location.

By a 7-5 vote Monday night, the Coastal Commission rejected its staff’s recommendation to order removal of horses and equipment from within 100 feet of Stokes Canyon Creek, which drains into Malibu Creek and eventually Surfrider Beach.

Ocean advocate groups believe the hundreds of horses using Malibu Valley Farms are directly responsible for bacterial and nutrient pollution regularly measured downstream of the facility, in Malibu Creek State Park, and at the lagoon and world-famous surfing break near Malibu’s Civic Center.

But a steady parade of horse advocates from across the state, ranging from the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association to inner-city cowboys from Compton, implored the commission to allow the equestrian center to continue operations, which has a state-of-the-art vegetated swale to eliminate horse urine and manure from the dry wash.

“Malibu Valley Farms offers a safe zone, a green pasture that provides a shelter for all the horses in the area when there is a fire,” testified Calabasas veterinarian Richard Stevens. “They do outstanding manure management and they control the runoff. This farm could be within 10 feet of the creek and it would not degrade the water quality.”

But coastal commission staff were joined by surfing and clean-water organizations in questioning the claim that the large horse-breeding, boarding and exhibition center was not responsible for contributing to contamination of the Malibu Creek watershed.

Terran Collins, a Heal The Bay scientist, testified that “the extent of the unpermitted development at this site is widespread and detrimental to water quality, and it likely contributes to degraded water downstream at Heal The Bay’s monitoring sites.”

Sierra Club staffer Mark Massara said Stokes Creek contributes to the poor water quality of Malibu Creek, and the lagoon and surfing beaches at the ocean. “It flows into the most heavily-used areas of Malibu Creek State Park, where kids wade in the water and swim in the creek.”

Massarra said the Sierra Club sympathizes with horse owners, but agreed with Coastal staffers who wanted all horses 100 feet from the usually dry creekbed.

Stokes Canyon resident Lee Renger, himself a horse owner, said, “We’ve always enjoyed the horse breeding operation, but we haven’t enjoyed the illegal boarding operation there.” Renger noted that the sewage agency that serves the area may have to spend $160 million to remove polluting nutrients from another tributary at the same time horses are adding such nutrients at the farm.

Owner Brian Boudreau was given additional conditions by the commissioners to protect the creek, and the decision ends a 15-year-long enforcement action brought by Coastal staffers who noted no development permits had ever been granted to Malibu Valley Farms.

Boudreau had already lost his argument before the commission that his farm was largely built prior to the Coastal Commission’s existence and thus did not need the panel’s approval. Monday’s vote was his last-ditch attempt to win permits for the ranch, located one mile east of Las Virgenes Road on Mulholland.

The victory came two years after Boudreau lost a bitter fight to build a timeshare resort, winery and restaurant next to the equine facilities. Calabasas voters rejected his request to be annexed to that city and to rezone the resort, in large part because of the project’s rural location across from the King Gillette Ranch.

That ranch, a spread of bucolic rolling oak hills along Las Virgenes Road, was purchased two years ago to serve as the new visitor center and headquarters for the state and federal parks network in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Horse owners won this week’s battle in part, commissioners said, because Malibu Valley Farms will allow numerous riders to enjoy trails in the new centerpiece of the park system.

Dozens of horse owners, riders and fans traveled to the commission meeting in San Luis Obispo by chartered bus. The fight to save the equestrian center had galvanized horse owners across the state, who are concerned about growing pressures on equine ownership caused by urbanization and environmental concerns.

Equestrians brought with them dozens of show trophies and certificates that had been won at Malibu Valley Farms, and photos of prize-winning horses boarded at the stables.

Appeal Demonstrates Litigation’s Shadow

• City Council Is Mindful of Potential Courtroom Clashes

BY BILL KOENEKER

A controversial single-family home proposal located in Ramirez Canyon that was previously turned down by the Malibu City Council got another shot at life this week when the formal resolution rejecting the project was sent back to the staff.

Members decided on a 3-1 vote with Mayor Jeff Jennings dissenting and Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich abstaining to not yet uphold the appeal until the staff could make another analysis of the issues.

The matter had been appealed to the council by Ramirez Canyon neighbors, who opposed the plans for a ridgetop mansion 28-feet high consisting of 9,276 square feet with an additional 4,427 square foot basement.

The permits and variances had previously been approved by the planning commission.

The council had overturned the planning panel’s approval and turned down the request by builder Norm Haynie. At this week’s meeting, members were expected to formally adopt the resolution upholding the appeal.

Jennings, who insisted there was nothing new for the staff to review, said the matter needed a new hearing. Subsequently, the council went off in different directions debating whether that was the case.

City Attorney Christi Hogin noting that there were attorneys for both sides pleading their cases recommended the matter go back for further staff review. “If doesn’t hurt. We have heard from the lawyers,” she noted.

However, Councilmember Ken Kearsley, who also voted to send the matter back for staff review, said he did not operate under the auspices of attorneys telling the city what to do. “I am not impressed. I am underwhelmed,” he said, adding the matter did not need a new hearing.

Conley Ulich, who was not at the appeal hearing, was told she could not vote on the matter since it was simply a formal resolution.

Haynie had argued he did not get a fair hearing before the council because of additional last minute information that was considered by the council.

Haynie, who usually represents himself before the council, had two attorneys speak including a lawyer from Alan Block’s office.

Councilmember Sharon Barovsky indicated she did not believe the matter needed a new hearing and had asked Hogin what were the council’s options.

The city attorney explained since the council had not taken final action, the matter could be reconsidered. She said the council’s options were to rehear or first hear back from the staff, who would analyze the comments made by the opposing attorneys.

In other action, two council members markedly disagreed about the disposition of a one-mile strip of land located between Pacific Coast Highway and Broad Beach Road.

The city attorney said the county decided the city holds title to the remnant strip of land that during the past years has been landscaped and irrigated by Broad Beach homeowners and the city should now maintain it.

Thinking the land may or may not include the road side strip above Broad Beach on PCH, Conley Ulich suggested the city consider utilizing the land as a park or turning it into a commercial use selling coffee or gelato. “It may be an opportunity for the city to operate it,” she said.

“It is not on the agenda and I am opposed to it,” said Councilmember Andy Stern, who lives nearby and often sells real estate on Broad Beach.

The mayor intervened and said it was his understanding the remnant land under discussion did not include the roadside strip considered by Conley Ulich.

Stern also wanted to know why the city should take the county’s word and accept the road. Hogin said the matter could be litigated. The county counsel had taken the position that right and title passed to the city upon incorporation and they would no longer do any maintenance.

Broad Beach homeowner Jo Giese said she wanted to know what would be involved to continue landscaping the land that property owners have treated as gardens.

City Manager Jim Thorsen said the matter was on the agenda for the city council to authorize the staff to meet with the Broad Beach homeowners association to discuss the acquisition and how the city would handle it.

After further discussion, the council approved the agenda item and directed the city attorney to negotiate a final agreement with the county and authorized the city manager to convene a meeting with the property owners.

In other action, the council, without discussion, approved a new contract with Solid Waste Solutions, Inc. to continue providing film permit processing for the city.

SWS had requested a rate increase from $60 an hour to $75 a permit which the council agreed to. The current rate had not been increased since 2000. The $60 charge is for each permit. SWS does not charge an additional amount to the city if there is additional filming days or if there are changes or complications, according to a staff report. SWS has provided film permitting processing and management services to the city since 2000 when a city employee separated from the municipality and joined up with the firm.

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.

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.

County Draft Plan for Unincorporated Area Available for Review

BY BILL KOENEKER

Los Angeles County planners recently announced the release of the Draft Preliminary General Plan for public review. County officials will be taking public comments until August 30, 2007.

During the summer, planners will be conducting several public meetings throughout the county to receive comments on the document, which is described as the blueprint for future growth and development within the unincorporated areas of the county.

A nearby meeting for Malibu will be held at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District offices on July 26 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The new plan draft is different in priority than the current adopted General Plan, according to planners.

The comprehensive update and amendment to the draft document changes the emphasis of the plan to focus on the unincorporated areas of the county.

The major changes are described as revisions to growth policies by updating population and housing projections for a new plan horizon year of 2025 by providing detailed projections for unincorporated communities.

Also being proposed are changes in the boundaries of Significant Ecological Areas “to reflect results of a recent biological study and field work of staff biologists, and to revise policies, standards and procedures related to the management of SEAs.”

The update also includes revisions to the transportation policy maps to reflect recent planning updates at the county and regional level and revisions to the conservation and open space elements to reflect major changes in laws and current planning practices related to watershed planning and abatement of pollution from stormwater runoff.

The plan will also be revised to show the boundaries of area and community plans to delineate recent city incorporations as well as those areas’ plan boundaries.

The draft plan is available for review online at http://planning.lacounty.gov/ and also at the Malibu Pubic Library.

The Publisher’s Notebook

Time for Overtime on Malibu’s Mountain Speedways

BY ANNE SOBLE

It’s summer, and as has been evident in letters in the last few weeks’ issues of The News, it’s not just the temperature that’s rising. Canyon residents are getting angrier and angrier at the lack of teeth in the much-touted Operation Safe Canyons project to slow down motorcycles and high performance vehicles on routes from the Malibu mountains to the sea. Last weekend, there were a half dozen complaints on the office voice mail, and I even received a call at home from someone who said they had just called the California Highway Patrol about speeders. There were apparently other callers, and more pleas went to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station. Critics charge that every time Los Angeles County officials and public safety agency representatives get together for an Operation Safe Canyons press conference, those who flaunt the laws have a hearty laugh and say, “Isn’t it great that they are making the canyons safe for us to run rampant?”

According to the callers and the writers of the letters already printed and those yet to be published, this past weekend may have been one of the worst they have ever seen. One motorist who had stopped Sunday so blind youth exiting a yellow school bus could cross the road to attend one of the major events of the year at the Camp for the Junior Blind said bikers stopped behind him kept revving their engines and making derogatory remarks. When vehicles were able to proceed past the camp, he said he was quadruple-passed by the motorcyclists at 20-plus miles over the speed limit. It would appear that the time has come to start pressuring elected officials to do more than provide photo ops and sound bites. Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky is supposed to represent the voters of unincorporated Malibu. It is reported that he was able to use his considerable clout this week to persuade the California Coastal Commission to pass a measure that some of his constituents wanted. Perhaps his power extends to the head of the California Highway Patrol and the Los Angeles County Sheriff. Operation Safe Canyons’ next press conference should be held on a weekend afternoon instead of the usual weekday morning. It might take a little inconvenience to convince these folks that their rhetoric misses the mark. Until then, they appear clueless, as well as ineffectual, about traffic law enforcement on Malibu’s mountain roads.

Two New LNG Proposals Kick Off Permit Process

• Local Enviros Closely Watch Applications by Firms that Hope to Avoid Cabrillo Port’s Fate

BY HANS LAETZ

Less than three months after Malibu and Oxnard residents beat back a proposed liquefied natural gas terminal, applications for `two new LNG receiving stations not far from Malibu are being readied for accelerated government review beginning this summer.

And in Sacramento, anti-LNG activists are frantically lining up environmental groups to support a bill inspired by the Malibu LNG controversy that would establish a study to determine if California even needs what some call expensive, polluting floating factories.

Last week, the California State Lands Commission said it has accepted the technical data submitted by NorthernStar Natural Gas to convert an unused oil drilling platform 12.6 miles off the Oxnard coast into a facility to accept LNG from two ships at a time, convert the LNG into natural gas, and pipe it ashore.

The project, being marketed as Clearwater Port, now needs its application to be accepted by the U.S. Maritime Administration and the Coast Guard. When that is done, a 330-day clock begins ticking for federal and state officials and members of the general public to weigh in on the complex mechanical operation that is proposed.

Closer to Malibu, Woodside Natural Gas is finishing the final details on its OceanWay LNG terminal proposed for a location 22 miles south of Point Dume, about halfway to Santa Catalina Island. Its application will go to the City of Los Angeles and the two federal agencies sometime this fall, starting its own 330-day clock.

Both projects are being considered independently, and the prospect of competing LNG terminals off the coast has California Coastal Protection Network director Susan Jordan working the halls of Sacramento this week. She and other coastal advocates want to slow down the process, and see if California actually needs these industrial facilities.

“The issue of determining need is critical to approving an LNG terminal in California, [because] LNG terminals, by their very nature, pose significant public health and safety impacts,” she said.

Jordan is working to gain passage of a bill authored by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, that would set up a process to determine if environmental protections can be overridden to approve LNG projects based on their benefit outweighing their negative impacts.

Jordan said LNG is only a benefit if it is needed, and “it was on the basis of insufficient proof of need that Lt. Gov. John Garamendi indicated he could not approve the BHP Billiton LNG Terminal proposal.”

The long shadow of BHP Billiton’s Cabrillo Port failure hangs over the two new LNG terminals. Both companies say they are trying to pick up the pieces left after state agencies rejected BHP Billiton’s pleas for permits on the Malibu coast, and after Long Beach rejected an LNG plan from a subsidiary of Mitsubishi.

BHP Billiton’s Cabrillo Port project was rejected by the state coastal and lands commissions and the governor. The company was roundly criticized for lavishing millions on lobbying and hiring cronies of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to campaign for a Malibu LNG terminal that had major technical and environmental shortcomings.

Officials at Woodside last week revealed new details about the project south of Point Dume, which would include a pair of submerged buoys hoisted up underneath two specially constructed LNG transfer ships.

These transfer ships, under Woodside’s new plan, would meet trans-Pacific LNG carriers more than 100 miles southwest of Malibu, and transfer entire cargoes of LNG onto the transfer ships while the two ships are lashed to each other on the high seas.

The transfer ships would then steam to Santa Monica Bay, where they would hoist up a buoy, begin regasifying the LNG using onboard equipment, and pump the resulting natural gas ashore at Los Angeles International Airport.

In a key departure from the BHP Billiton plan, the Woodside LNG terminal would be further offshore, would not include a permanently-anchored factory ship the size of an aircraft carrier, and would mostly use outside air to warm up the LNG, reducing smog emissions by up to 90 percent compared to BHP Billiton’s plan, Woodside officials said.

Woodside’s project goes before federal and Los Angeles city officials this fall. The State Lands Commission is not involved because Los Angeles owns the seafloor within three miles of the city, and issues related permits.

New details were also announced this week for the Oxnard oil-rig-turned-LNG terminal. NorthernStar now plans to anchor up to two LNG carriers at a time next to a former oil drilling platform now used only as a subsea crude oil pipeline control point.

NorthernStar plans to construct two “soft-mooring” floating docks about 600 feet away from the platform, and use giant, insulated, flexible hoses to bring the supercold LNG up to the old oil rig.

Ambient air would be used to warm up most of the gas, similar to the Woodside proposal.

Officials at both companies stress that the BHP Billiton failure is frontmost in their minds as they prepare for public hearings for their permits.

“We’re trying to squeeze every inch of our project to make a smaller environmental footprint,” said Rob Male, vice president for Woodside’s proposed project in the waters off Point Dume. “We’re building this so it’s cleaner in air emissions than any other LNG plant in the world, and we’re going to export this California technology to all of our LNG operations all around the world.”

NorthernStar’s Oxnard project manager also cited BHP Billiton’s mistakes.

“It appears BHP tried the Sacramento approach, and we’re going to be different,” said vice president Billy Owens. “We’re trying to do outreach locally, and really listen to the people who live and breathe here.”

But Owens said he’s not sure what the company will do if its outreach finds a core of people unhappy with an offshore oil rig that was supposed to be torn down at the end of its oil lifecycle being turned into an LNG terminal.

“Yes, we expect to hear those kind of remarks,” the NorthernStar spokesperson said. “We’re listening a lot but we don’t have a pat answer to those kind of questions. We have to ask those people if they are willing to live in a world with less and less energy.”

However, coastal advocates like Jordan say that’s a false choice. She said energy independence and avoiding new foreign sources of fossil fuel make LNG a questionable proposition at best.

Discharge Violations Targeted

• Toughens Pollution Reporting Law

The Malibu City Council is being asked next week to go on record supporting Assembly Bill 800, a measure that would make it a crime for anyone with knowledge of the discharge of a hazardous substance or sewage into any waters in the state who fails to immediately report it to the local health officer and Office of Emergency Services. If convicted, the offending party could be required to pay a fine or go to jail.

AB 800 is co-sponsored by Malibu’s Assemblymember Julia Brownley.

Current law requires any individual who discharges hazardous material or sewage into any waters to notify local and state health offices. Los Angeles County reports that hundreds of spills have occurred since 2002, resulting in over 8,000,000 gallons of raw sewage being discharged that were never reported to the appropriate health authorities.

When informed about this data, Brownley and several colleagues co-authored the measure, which is sponsored by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, that would amend the state water code to make it a misdemeanor for any person found guilty. The bill clarifies, but does not change, the current law regarding the duty to report and increases the penalty for failing to do so, according to the measure’s sponsors.

AB 800 passed the Assembly last month and was sent to the Senate for committee assignment and a hearing date.

Brownley told municipal officials she believes the legislation is a critical tool to encourage prompt reporting and requests that the city voice its support for passage of the bill.

Seat Open on SMMUSD

Seat Open on SMMUSD Board of Education

Applications to fill a vacancy on the SMMUSD Board of Education are now available. The deadline for completed paperwork is Monday, July 9, at 5 p.m.

The applicant chosen for this position will serve on the board until the general election in November 2008, when voters will elect a candidate to complete the remainder of the term, which ends in December 2010.

Applicants must reside within the boundaries of the school district, which encompasses the City of Malibu, the City of Santa Monica and unincorporated areas.

All persons are invited to apply for the vacancy, regardless of race, age, sex, religion, marital status, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation or disability.

Applications can be obtained from school district superintendent’s office or online at www.smmusd.org.

They should be submitted to the Superintendent’s Office at 1651 16 Street, Santa Monica, CA 90404 (post-marked July 9), or faxed to 310-581-1138.

Color Malibu Red

• The Publisher’s Notebook •
Color Malibu Red As in Red Flag Alert

BY ANNE SOBLE

While most of the nation is focused on the colors red, white and blue, local fire crews are thinking red for the high brushfire danger that exists this week and will continue for all weeks in the foreseeable future. Last Saturday was brush inspection day at my oasis of calm in Malibu. Los Angeles County crews going through the vicinity made certain that everyone understands how serious the current wildfire danger is. The firefighter who gave a thumbs up to the regulation fire hose hookup equipment at several locations on my property and the use of low-burning cacti and other succulents for landscaping is a 25-year veteran with the department who says he has never seen conditions as dry as they are now. The record-setting lack of rainfall has created an environment where a wayward campfire, a carelessly tossed cigarette, an errant spark from a vehicle or illegal fireworks could turn Malibu into an inferno.

The governor toured the Tahoe fire zone last week and, as he often does, noted that the state’s firefighters are “true action heroes.” He also said that these “brave men and women” would not lack the resources to meet the challenges that await them now that fire season is a year-round phenomenon. But as is the case all too often with those in the political realm, the rhetoric exceeds reality. Firefighting resources are down, not up. With grounded air tankers, a wounded DC-10, an insufficient number of helicopters and the astounding SuperScoopers only available part-time (at county expense), response time and capability are compromised. How many more wildfires have to claim homes, businesses and lives before politicians will stop thinking about the value of firefighting equipment in terms of value instead of cost?

This governor is taking concerns about global warming to the national and world stages with an extraordinary capability that is as much messenger as message. He says things that a team of scientists might say with greater precision but never get the public attention they deserve. The governor has to know that global warming brings increased threat from wildfires. Even when fire is the result of arson, preexisting environmental degradation creates conditions that enable it to take off more quickly and burn hotter, increasing the potential for catastrophic loss. He can provide the leadership to obtain funding so SuperScoopers and other craft can be purchased outright as part of an ample and diverse firefighting arsenal.

School Board OKs Budget

• Members Stress that Most of Budget Is State Mandated

The board of the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District tentatively approved the draft budget for the 2007-2008 fiscal year at its meeting last week.

The 192-page-plus document was described by one district official as “community-unfriendly” because of the state-mandated accounting practices that shape the document. The draft, which offers no narrative or executive summary and is hard to follow, was discussed during several board meetings over the last two months.

One board member said that is why he believes there were so few questions at the Thursday session when approval was voted.

Some board members praised school district administrators for bringing what they called “transparency” to the cumbersome document. One member said the budget before them exhibited the most openness seen during their involvement with the district.

The primary ongoing district priority, according to administrators, will be alignment of staff with the number of students enrolled—a number that is expected to decline in the year ahead.