Captive Malibu Great White Shark Transported to Monterey Bay Aquarium

BY HANS LAETZ

Strollers on the Malibu Pier Tuesday morning got to see the latest famous Malibu shark when the Monterey Bay Aquarium transferred the occasionally thrashing 4-foot 9-inch great white from a boat into a truck.

By Tuesday evening, the yearling male shark had arrived 350 miles north in his new temporary quarters—a specially engineered shark tank at the Monterey Bay Aquarium—in what his agent says is good shape.

The transfer took place at 9 a.m., when the large fishing boat chartered by the aquarium brought the 67 1/2-pound shark to the pier, and divers moved him from a tank to a stretcher-like device for a quick run up the pier to the side of Pacific Coast Highway.

There he was quickly put into a tank of 3000 gallons of saltwater that was waiting at the side of the road. MBA spokesperson Ken Peterson said veterinarians checked to make sure he was breathing and not in distress before the truck made a U-turn and headed to Monterey.

“Our animal husbandry people noted there are a lot of decision points between Malibu and Monterey, and we would have turned back if the shark looked like he was in distress,” Peterson said Tuesday night. “A vet was in the cab of the truck the whole way, watching the shark on a TV, and they stopped several times to check the water, the filters and the oxygenation equipment.”

At 5:15 p.m., the shark was in his new temporary home, “and was swimming and breathing normally,” Peterson said. “The next big benchmark is feeding—will he take food in the tank?”

Aquarium workers at the Malibu pen where he was kept for three weeks have already accustomed the shark to take fish from a pole, and hope the shark will remember that in Monterey. Two other sharks have successfully transitioned from dead fish on a pole to live fish in the tank, and Peterson said this shark appears to be on his way to master that lesson next.

The aquarium made history in 2004 when a juvenile great white accidentally netted by a fishing trawler off Orange County was taken to the Malibu pen, then exhibited at the aquarium for half a year, the first time a great white shark has been kept in captivity alive.

That shark, and another caught in 2006, were both released to the wild after they outgrew the Monterey tanks, and were charted as far away as Mazatlan, Mexico following their detainment.

More than one million people have paid to see the sharks, creating a large endowment for Stanford University marine biologists to study the great whites that inhabit the waters off California.

Some shark experts have criticized the exhibition of sharks in an aquarium as dangerous and patronizing to the animals. Two years ago, the Malibu City Council voiced concerns about the shark collection pen, resulting in it being moved slightly further off the coast near Paradise Cove.

The aquarium-funded research has paid for nearly 150 wild sharks to be tagged with devices that record movement, then release and float to the surface after several months, and radio in their findings to satellites.

Scientists have been startled to find that great white sharks tend to congregate in several hot spots, some of them near seal-rich feeding areas like Big Sur and the Farallon Islands, but others in seemingly random areas east and west of Hawaii.

Scientists are not sure where great whites give birth, but juvenile sharks are known to congregate occasionally in the warm waters of Santa Monica Bay.

City Council Delays Taking Vote on Point of Sale Septic Inspection Law

• One Member Lambasts Real Estate Sector’s Opposition

BY BILL KOENEKER

A proposed point of sale ordinance that would require inspections of septic systems when any developed real estate property is transferred was put on hold at this week’s Malibu City Council meeting after the mayor requested more time to tweak the law’s language.

“I was in Prague and it did not get my full attention before this meeting,” said Mayor Jeff Jennings, who indicated he wanted to make his comments “offline” and asked the council to send the matter back to the staff for refinement.

However, Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who nonetheless voted for a continuance until the council’s next meeting on Sept. 24, said she wanted the issues hashed out on Monday night and then blasted Realtors who had come to raise objections to the proposed measure.

“I’m glad the Realtors are here tonight. They have been absent from the community. They used to be the number one donors with the exception of a few of you. What happened? Where did the city go wrong?”

Conley Ulich went on to say that given the success of real estate in the past year she was glad to see the real estate community becoming involved.

Debating contentions made by the local realty association, Conley Ulich said “this ordinance will improve our environment.”

Realtors acknowledged they have been working with the municipal staff, but took pains to let council members know they are in total opposition to the proposed new law.

“In the broad sense, our organization is opposed to this ordinance considering it to be ponderous, confusing, impractical, possibly confiscatory and a de facto tax,” said Malibu Association of Realtors President Christine Rodgerson, in prepared remarks to the council.

Rodgerson told members that the commitment the council made to the state Regional Water Quality Control Board through a memo of understanding pledging the city’s oversight of septic systems “may be premature.”

The board president indicated her members believe many of the facts surrounding the water pollution question “are not yet known and the ordinance should be delayed until all of the data are collected and analyzed.”

Realtor Paul Grisanti made the case that the guidelines and the forms are confusing. “I have an objection to go into a transaction with someone and not have plain language. As it is now we have to take a 13-page worksheet. Why is it not appropriate to tell people in the ordinance what are the minimum requirements,” he said.

Realtors also ticked off a laundry list of other objections. Jennings stated flatly that he believes in many parts of town septic systems work and in other parts of town they do not. He said the purpose of the law is to keep track of all of the septic systems in Malibu and to do so during real estate transfers when there is the money to cover it.

“We need for the city to have oversight. If not, we will lose control. The septics are subject to permit. I think the ordinance put forward expresses a good idea. It is true the forms are not a part of the ordinance. It is true the guidelines are not part of the laws. That was done because the guidelines may change from time to time. It is also true the houses on the beach my have to have tertiary treated systems.”

The mayor agreed that certain parts of the measure, especially the language, are confusing and need to be made clear.

Other council members concurred. “I do agree when I read the ordinance it confused me. What about the people who are selling their homes that do not have a lot of money. I would like to see the requirements spelled out in a checklist,” said Councilmember Sharon Barovsky.

Councilmember Ken Kearsley suggested including a one year sunset clause in the ordinance. “We don’t want something that is an albatross. We do need to fine tune it,” he added.

The proposed law would require inspection of an existing onsite wastewater treatment system at or within two years of the time of transfer of title to the property owner served by the system. The ordinance would require the city to issue a certificate of inspection, or a conditional certificate of inspection, based on the findings of the inspection by a city-approved inspector.

The issuance of a certificate would authorize the transfer of title between parties. A functional system would receive a passing mark. A failed system would be identified and the reqiurements to make the system compliant would be outlined.

The intent of the program, according to city officials, is to identify and correct systems which pose a risk to public health and safety and the environment. A two-year timeline for meeting compliance has been added to the proposed ordinance.

Paperwork for First of Two Area LNG Projects Accepted by the Feds

• Second Application to Follow Quickly

BY HANS LAETZ

Just four months after a liquefied natural gas terminal proposal off the local coast was shot down, the federal government Friday accepted an additional application for an area LNG terminal, and a second application will be accepted within 10 days.

NorthernStar Natural Gas had its lengthy application accepted by the U.S. Coast Guard and federal Maritime Administration to convert an inactive oil-drilling platform 30 miles west of Malibu into an LNG receiving terminal. That formal acceptance starts a 330-day clock that requires a massive environmental study to be conducted at the energy firm’s expense, but under government control.

Although that terminal would not be visible from Malibu, it would be upwind of the area. And close on its heels is a proposed terminal from Woodside Natural Gas that would be 22 miles off Point Dume, which also is expected to begin its 330-day clock very soon, industry officials say.

Joe Desmond, a vice president at NorthernStar, said, “It would be a very aggressive timetable” if the 330-day schedule for the proposed Clearwater Port project 12.6 miles off the Oxnard coast was met. Federal and state authorities have the power to stop the clock if additional security or scientific studies have to be undertaken.

The BHP Billiton proposal for Malibu was rejected in April after its clock was stopped for three years. NorthernStar’s Desmond said they have learned from BHP’s saga and submitted an application that he said “will deliver California energy that it needs while protecting the coast.”

The NorthernStar Clearwater Port proposal would emit 80 percent less air pollution during LNG processing than Cabrillo Port would have, because ambient air would be used instead of boilers to heat the minus 260-degree slush, Desmond said.

The NorthernStar terminal would also avoid stationing a permanently anchored storage facility at the platform. Two ships at a time could moor at the station, however.

Desmond said the NorthernStar proposal would comply with Ventura County air pollution rules, and would actually reduce net air emissions in the area because the company would retire existing pollution sources. It would not be visible from anywhere southeast of Port Hueneme.

Closer to Malibu, Woodside Natural gas expects to hear within 10 days on a similar acceptance of its application to build a terminal that would be visible from higher elevations in Malibu on clear days. Its project, called OceanWay, would be anchored approximately midway between Point Dume and Catalina Island.

OceanWay also hopes to take in incoming natural gas with a design that would use ambient air to heat the gas, but instead of putting its equipment on an old oil well, Woodside would reheat its gas on a pair of LNG carriers that would anchor at a pair of buoys in the middle of Santa Monica Bay.

The Woodside regasification carriers would loop out to the high seas more than 100 miles offshore, and accept loads of LNG from transoceanic carriers that would never touch U.S. waters.

Neither project sits well with some environmentalists, like Oxnard attorney Tim Riley, who is gearing up to battle an LNG terminal 13 miles west of his Oxnard Shores home.

“This is a guinea pig project that is going to be twice as close to Oxnard as the BHP Billiton one,” he said. “It will have two LNG tankers at it so it will be at least twice as dangerous, so we all need to team together as with BHP Billiton and work twice as hard.”

Riley noted that the old oil platform has reached the end of its design life, and was supposed to be removed from its prominent position on the sunset horizon in Ventura County. But Desmond said that state coastal laws encourage the reuse of older industrial intrusions on the coast whenever possible.

In 2004, the Malibu City Council passed a resolution opposing the BHP Billiton terminal, as well as the NorthernStar terminal off Oxnard.

Some environmentalists have voiced a wait-and-see attitude towards the two new proposals, given that many of the major environmental problems that sunk Cabrillo Port appear to have been addressed by the newcomers.

However, California Coastal Protection Network director Susan Jordan said the details in the multi-volume applications may vary from promises, and will need review.

Jordan was in Sacramento this week, seeking passage of a state law that would require a study on whether LNG imports are even needed.

The chairman of the California State Lands Commission, John Garamendi, said last week that the state’s demand for imported natural gas can be served by imports via a new LNG terminal nearing completion in Baja California.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Malibu Cause and Effect

BY ANNE SOBLE

Two members of the Malibu City Council did an excellent job of serving as public conduits at Monday’s discussion of the survey of Malibu shopping patterns. They brought different generational perspectives as they asked some tough questions of the consultant and the survey, much of which was boilerplate in content and addressed only part of the local retail equation. The consultant appeared to have no local context in which to place the data, which may be representative but not if it’s used as the rationale for high-density commercial development. There was little sense of Malibu as a unique community that has exercised its political muscle against that high density when it defeated the ill-designed Measure M. Would any consultant aware of that debate even discuss doubling or quadrupling commercial Floor-Area-Ratios with the impunity found in the report that was presented Tuesday? The survey should be regarded as a pricey first testing of the purchasing waters. Additional outreach that asks more specific questions and presents more “if-then” options is required. Asking “what stores would you like to see in Malibu (even if its economically unfeasible or might come with major traffic or wastewater problems) is like conducting a survey to see whether people would like world peace. To conclude that any survey results support “desirable economic development” without defining what it is and, more importantly, who selects the definition, puts the consultant in charge.

All the bemoaning that businesses such as hardware stores, printshops and other low profit services will not be part of the city’s own commercial holdings seems to ignore that a key reason this is the case is not market forces but the need to service the major debt that the city incurred with a land purchase that some still maintain was overpriced. The city’s financial needs dictate the high-rent mix of businesses—which for the most part sell superfluities rather than necessities—and it is this that drives local shoppers to Westlake, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Calabasas and the Westside, precluding much potential for change in Malibu shopping habits. As the commercial mix becomes more oriented toward gifts and visitor shopping, there may be no noticeable impact on municipal revenues when the weather is good. But Malibuites who have to leave the community to purchase necessities will not fill in any gaps when visitors take a pass. The proposals for the lumber yard site may exacerbate this dissatisfaction, not to mention parking and circulation issues. Another council member said his colleagues should focus on the big picture—the details will work themselves out. Perhaps he never heard the old maxim that the devil is in the details, or is it just too easy to leave the details to consultants? Besides, is there time for details when you have to drive 30 miles for corral gate hinges or fencing?

Malibu Economic Study Raises Issues

• Look at Shopping Patterns Has No Surprises

BY BILL KOENEKER

The adage that Malibu is unique was made clear at this week’s Malibu City Council meeting when a high-priced consultant, who contends he has probed local shopping preferences and handed in a nearly 100-page report offering “solutions,” was queried by council members.

One of his conclusions was that for the city to provide the community service retailers sought by shoppers, local government would have to provide an incentive to commercial real estate developers,.including a .60 floor area ratio in exchange for lower rents to such businesses.

“It is a bonus for developers. It is a common approach in the housing sector,” said Doug Svensson, the president of Applied Development Economics, Inc., a Bay Area economics consulting firm.

Councilmember Sharon Barovsky explained her reaction when she read that recommendation. “I got your survey. If we go to a .60 FAR, I’m going back to Hawaii. They will run me out of town. You did not ask the question if people were willing to make that trade off for local businesses. We tend to stop development at a .15 FAR,” she said.

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich asked Svensson about why the study did not include one of Malibu’s burgeoning industries, drug rehabilitation facilities.

“What about rehabs?” asked Conley Ulich. “Do you mean remodeling?” answered Svensson.

“That’s my point,” retorted a laughing Conley Ulich who had begun questioning the veracity of the study, which claimed that respondents listed brand names on their shopping lists, which resulted in the conclusion there was no local animus towards retail formula stores.

Laura Rosenthal, who is on the economic advisory committee charged with overseeing the study, said the panel never saw the final report. She asked the report be sent back to the committee. The council agreed. Rosenthal said it was necessary to go over the report to “localize” some of the conclusions and recommendations. “Some of the results would not work in Malibu,” she added.

Point Dume activist John Mazza, who said he has a degree in economics, took issue with the consulting firm, which reported that Malibu households spend $246 million annually on retail purchases, but of that amount spend $189 million out of the area. The firm claims that an additional 618,000 square feet of retail space could be built in Malibu to try to stop that leakage.

Mazza said the report states that $147 million of the total $234 million in retail sales generated in Malibu comes from outsiders. “We already capture the leakage,” he noted.

Steve Urich went so far as to say he believed there were fabrications in the report. “It starts with people making up stuff. What you have here is factual and a little fiction here,” he said.

However, Mayor Jeff Jennings said he thought the report spelled out the economic facts of Malibu. “There is room for disagreement for many of the details, but you brought home some of the realities that do exist. We can quibble about what residents want, but the economic factors that drive it are here,” he noted

Councilmember Andy Stern said the problem of losing local stores is endemic to all of the Westside, including Beverly Hills. “The problem is everywhere,” he added.

Barovsky reminded her colleagues and the audience that the goals that prompted the study were actually set by a previous council.

The study is described as building upon the 2000 economic plan. That was set into motion several years ago for the city to implement an Economic Element to the General Plan.

Barovsky said that policy was set by former Councilmember Tom Hasse with the concurrence of the council at that time and the current council has continued to honor that commitment.

The results of the survey suggested residents are unhappy with the current mix of retail shopping and expressed concern that retailers cater primarily to visitors and very high-income households.

The survey purported to show that residents would like to see a hardware/home improvement store, a general merchandise store selling household goods and a specialty food store.

There Is a Malibu Beach for Every Inclination

BY BILL KOENEKER

Malibu is blessed with a plethora of beaches. Almost every one of them can be viewed as a “specialty” beach. Each seems to have a different use or feature that makes them attractive for special activities.

Starting at the western end, Leo Carrilllo State Park is a showcase unto itself, offering camping, kayaking, scuba diving, surfing, windsurfing and just old-fashioned surf and sand.

Leo Carrillo is about as close to having it all as one could wish. Surf breaks and (late afternoon) wind conditions make it beloved by water sport enthusiasts and the close-in kelp beds and rocky reefs are favored destinations of the scuba set. On calm mornings, kayakers can paddle a stretch of water leading to perfect fishing opportunities or dive spots.

Additionally, the low tides along this 1.5 mile stretch of white sand offer remarkable tidepools and sculpted rock formations, including arches, ledges and sea stacks, secluded coves and ample marine and bird life.

Adjacent to Leo Carrillo is another stretch of wild seashore known as Nicholas Canyon County Beach. Locals sometimes choose this beach when the rest of the shoreline in Malibu is crowded with visitors.

Quite often beachgoers will find few other people at this beach, though there is ample parking and restrooms. A sense of solitude often can be experienced by beachgoers at this particular shore and surfers who call the point break there “zeroes,” know that good waves are a staple here.

Just beyond Nicholas is a series of “pocket” beaches collectively known as the Robert H. Meyer Memorial State Beach. Individually, the three beaches are known as El Pescador, El Matador and La Piedra.

The blufftop sites, with stairs or paths down to the sand, are often described as offering some of the most scenic stretches of shoreline in Malibu with rock formations, secluded coves, sea stacks and sea caves reminiscent of the Northern Coast.

The small beaches, which are interspersed between private beaches, have become a favorite with not only locals, but also visitors from all over Los Angeles, including foreign tourists.

Besides their scenic charm, the offshore waters are still rich with kelp beds and marine life and are a favorite for fishermen who occasionally ply their small craft to angle along the rock-reefed coast.

Zuma Beach has become the all-time favorite of locals and visitors alike with summertime crowds swelling the population on the beach by the thousands.

No wonder the stretch of white sand is so popular. In the summertime, the water is often clear and clean and when the waves are not too big, or the riptides are not present, the ocean can be an inviting place even for landlubbers.

The beach is also popular for boogie boarding and surfing and it offers more than two miles of shoreline for great beach walks. Locals have also discovered that a recently installed boardwalk along the sea wall is ideal for an early-morning exercise regime. Plenty of restrooms and a couple of food booths are also in full operation during summertime.

The adventurous can walk to Westward Beach from Zuma, sometimes known as Free Zuma, where Westward Beach Road takes visitors right up to the sand and also offers them free parking.

The aptly-named beach is a great place for surfers who find good swells when waves crash on west facing beaches. Boogie boarders also like the near shore break. Whale watchers know that, during winter, Westward offers some of the best near shore sightings of the behemoths that love to play in the surf zone.

Adjacent to Westward Beach is Point Dume State Beach. A stretch of Malibu that includes a sandy shoreline, rocky bluff point, headlands and a hidden cove where some locals swear the best diving and snorkeling can be found.

The Point Dume headlands offer a little something for everybody, especially during the different seasons when whale watching is a favorite pastime of visitors.

During summer months, the waters of Big Dume Cove can sometimes provide a clarity and visual experience that rival any other underwater adventure.

Rock reefs, small patches of kelp, sea grasses and a rich marine habitat, all located near an underwater marine canyon, can provide numerous underwater visuals for divers and snorkelers alike.

Some locals are convinced the sandy curvature of the shoreline of Big Dume, located just below the bluffs of Point Dume, is the best beach in Malibu. That would be a difficult assertion to argue against.

Several coves away is Paradise Cove, a small private beach where a fee for beach entrance and parking is charged. The restaurant located nearby is open and offers service on the sand. The remnants of a pier remain at one end of the beach.

Known by many as Corral Beach, despite being named Dan Blocker State Beach, this is a roadside stretch of shoreline that is a favorite of motorists and commuters who can easily access the picturesque strand of sand. It is said, often times, good diving can be found on the offshore reefs.

The most famous of all Malibu’s beaches is inarguably, Malibu Surfrider Beach, one of only a few beaches where only surfing is permitted. The area is adjacent to Malibu lagoon, the Adamson House and the nearby pier that is open and slowly coming back to life.

One of the world’s famous point breaks—actually three point breaks—has made Surfrider one of the most well-known in all of California. Caution should be exercised in these waters because of the frequent problem of biological pollution. Just west of the pier is considered an excellent launch site for kayaks, especially during calm water. The other public beaches along the eastern end of Malibu include Las Tunas State Beach and Topanga State Beach.

Great White Shark Penned Off Malibu Awaits Decision on Its Fate as an Aquarium Showpiece

BY HANS LAETZ

A juvenile great white shark has been living in the floating pen off Escondido Beach for two weeks, being watched by Monterey Bay Aquarium crews to see if it is strong and hungry enough to spend the next half year or so on display in captivity up north.

Two other sharks deemed unsuitable for the Monterey gig were tagged and released this month from the floating pen, both set free one mile off the shore near Paradise Cove.

“They are looking for small fish at this stage of their lives, and are not looking for people to eat,” said Ken Peterson, spokesperson for the Monterey scientific institution and tourist attraction. “The released sharks are traveling off to Ventura, Orange County or down to Baja.”

Peterson said that itinerary is based on the past behavior of released sharks, who are tagged with a tracking device that detaches from the sharks if they stop moving or after the batteries get weak, and then surfaces to transmit accumulated GPS data.

Fishing crews netting sand bass three miles west of Ventura captured the latest shark Aug. 3 in about 120 feet of water, and set course for the temporary pen to sell him to the aquarium. The shark was determined to be a male less than one year of age.

For five years, the aquarium has stationed a floating pen in the protected waters east of Point Dume to hold specimens and has put out the word to commercial fishing trawlers that they are in the market for live sharks. Scientists hope to give an incentive to fishing crews to keep the great whites alive and uninjured as they are brought to Malibu, even though most of the animals are tagged and released.

Some years, no sharks are captured.

Last year’s captive shark was released after being viewed by 600,000 aquarium-goers during 137 days on display. He had grown to 6-feet, 5-inches in length and 171 pounds of flesh, cartilage and teeth. This specimen, like many recently released sharks, headed to the shores near Mazatlan, where his radio tag gave Stanford University scientists valuable information about its travels.

“It looks like the shark spent his days near the surface, with occasional deep dives to around 660 feet [deep]—a pattern typical of adults when they are traveling to and from the California coast to offshore hot spots between California and Hawaii,” said Dr. Kevin Weng, quoted in an aquarium article.

Scientists have used funding from Monterey Bay Aquarium shark tourism to tag and release dozens of great white sharks in the San Francisco area, and have learned about shark hot spots as a result.

Although it is not clear where great white sharks are usually born, juvenile sharks are often spotted in the warm and sheltered waters of Santa Monica Bay.

Peterson said local swimmers have no rational reason to fear juvenile sharks being released just offshore popular swimming beaches.

“Ask the lifeguards and the surfers and they will tell you these baby sharks are always found in the waters just offshore the waves, and I remember well the year the airborne traffic reporters got all those great pictures of the sharks sunning themselves right off Will Rogers Beach.”

Proposed City Law Would Require Septic Inspection at Point of Sale

• Measure Has Been Modified to Address Realtors’ Concerns

BY BILL KOENEKER

A highly controversial municipal law has been proposed that would require inspections of septic systems when any developed real property is transferred is set to air before the Malibu City Council at its meeting next Monday.

Called the point of sale ordinance, the measure would require inspection of an existing onsite wastewater treatment system at or within two years of the time of transfer of title to the property owner served by the septic system, according to municipal officials.

The proposal, which has been bandied about since the beginning of 2007 and was closely scrutinized by the real estate community, according to building officials, would require the city to issue a certificate of inspection, or a conditional certificate of inspection, based on the findings in the official inspection form prepared by a city-approved inspector.

“The issuance of either certificate will authorize the transfer of title between parties,” wrote Craig George, the division manager of the city’s building department.

“Language has also been abridged to clarify the obtainment of an operating permit at the time of real estate transfer of title.”

George said the staff has worked closely with the local association of realtors and took into account feedback from the real estate community.

“A common misconception is that all systems must be upgraded at the time of real estate transfer. A functional system will receive a passing mark. A failed system will be identified and the required alternative necessary to cause the system to again become compliant with the minimum operating requirements will be acknowledged. The intent of the program is to identify and correct those [systems], which pose a risk to public health and safety and the environment,” he added.

A two-year timeline for meeting compliance has been added to the proposed ordinance.

George said Realtors also thought there was a public relations problem and wanted to change the name of the law to “environmental improvement program.”

However, the building official insisted there is no “sound rationale” for not using the traditional planning term.

Realty association members also wanted the time frame of the original ordinance changed from one to three years. “Staff has compromised and has established two years as the time frame for conformance,” George said.

The municipal official indicated several other key factors were incorporated into the proposed ordinance that real estate profesionals wanted, such as the Prop. 13 language to define a transfer of title for the purposes of the proposed ordinance, the city’s obligation to provide a certificate of inspection within five business days, a timeline for a period of compliance for a successor transferee to obtain a certificate of inspection when the original property owner failed to do so, and use of Prop. 13 language to define exceptions, such as interspousal transfer and transfers of title to eligible children and grandchildren.

George said the staff is also recommending that, upon adoption of the new law, a 90-day grace period would be implemented that could serve as a trial period “to test drive the ordinance for both the real estate community and the city.”

The building official acknowledged the city is obligated to adopt a point of sale ordinance because of a memo of understanding signed by the city with the Regional Water Quality Control Board. “Not adopting the point of sale program will prevent the city from satisfying the requirements of the MOU with the RWQCB,” he concluded.

Tapia Managers Say Recent Commission Vote Was an ‘Ambush’

• LVMWD Acknowledges that It Was Caught Off Guard by Environmental Organizations

BY HANS LAETZ

Managers at the Tapia Wastewater Treatment Plant say that a Malibu Creek cleanup project eight years in the making and endorsed by several environmental groups and water cleanup officials was “ambushed by eleventh-hour written documents filed at the last minute by two organizations purporting to be environmentalists” at a California Coastal Commission meeting.

And the scientist from Heal The Bay who testified against the proposal says she was not aware the project was cosponsored by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, or that $200,000 in state clean water bonds had been appropriated for what had been certified by regional water pollution watchdogs as a good neighbor, water-cleansing project.

As a result, the agency is deciding whether to appeal, ask for a rehearing, or simply walk away from a water quality project that they said has no benefit for their sewage plant other than to foster wildlife and allow people using Malibu Creek to swim in water that is less brackish.

Meeting in San Francisco two weeks ago, the Coastal Commission overruled its own staff findings while acknowledging its attorney’s cautions that it could not make a water quality judgment, and by a 6-4 vote turned down a proposal to rebuild a series of water seepage pits along the creek bed eight miles upstream of Malibu Lagoon.

“We didn’t really think we were going to have to go up there [to San Francisco] and fight a battle,” said Jeff Reinhardt, public affairs manager at the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, which the Tapia facility serves.

“We sent our engineer expecting the commission to vote on a construction matter, knowing that the Coastal Commission does not have authority to hold a water quality hearing,” Reinhardt said. “We had no opportunity to address the outrageous claims and demonstrate the facts.”

Jon Mundy, the district’s general manager, said Monday the unexpected Coastal Commission veto of the project derails an effort to improve water quality in Malibu Canyon that was endorsed by the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and other environmental groups.

In addition, the plan had been found by the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board to have no possible adverse water quality ramifications, either by water level or increased flow, at Malibu Lagoon or Surfrider Beach.

Heal The Bay and the Sierra Club objected to the project because it would have been located too close to the creek, and would have added water to the combined above-ground and below-ground flow through Malibu Canyon into the lagoon, where high water levels are blamed for allowing natural and human contaminants to cook in the sunlight and become putrid.

But the Las Virgenes officials said the seepage ponds would have been closely controlled using groundwater and stream flow data downstream all the way to the ocean, and would be used only to boost stream flow in upstream areas where the creek can become brackish during summer months.

The project was estimated to cost about $250,000 and would not have aided Las Virgenes to dispose of its average of 9.5 million gallons of treated sewage effluent daily, they stressed.

“We have more than enough customers for our treated effluent during summer months,” and have backup ability to use spray-evaporation pads or divert treated water into the Los Angeles River under its current permits, Mundy said. During five winter months, when irrigation need for recycled water is low, the plant is allowed to send what is described as drinking-water-quality effluent into Malibu Creek, which usually is flowing into the ocean during the winter.

During the commission meeting in San Francisco, the Las Virgenes engineer appeared flustered and was unable to respond to several allegations made by Heal The Bay scientist Sarah Abramson, Sierra Club activist Marcia Hanscom and Malibuite Connor Everts who raised fishing-related concerns.

One commission member who voted against the project publicly complained during the meeting that he had received Heal The Bay’s multi-page statement just before the item came up, and was unable to properly digest it.

Abramson said Tuesday that her opposition statement was filed at the last minute because the Coastal Commission’s staff released its endorsement of the proposal only a week before the meeting, giving her agency scant time to review it. “We were rushed,” she said.

Abramson also said she was not aware that the proposal was solely intended as a pollution-reduction project, and was not envisioned by Tapia’s operators as a means to dispose of water that supposedly had no place else to go.

During the meeting, a commission attorney reminded the commissioners that they are specifically prohibited from making water quality decisions, which state law assigns to the Water Board. Commissioner Sara Wan was careful to preface the motion against the project by saying it was based on siting issues, that the ponds would have been too close to Malibu Creek.

Abramson repeated on Tuesday her charge that the ponds would be too close to the creek, but said Heal The Bay had not done any scientific studies to produce any evidence to counter hydrological studies done by Tapia that predict the water-cleansing project should succeed.

Mundy said the ponds were designed as wetlands for wildlife, and as such were an integral part of improvement of the creek’s currently degraded condition. The pond site is currently a field filled with invasive plants.

The Tapia officials were particularly rankled by Everts’ assertion that endangered steelhead trout suffered a massive die-off in the creek last year because of the sewage plant. “If Mister Everts has any proof of that, he owes it to the community to furnish it. There is no established connection between the plant and the trout die-off at all,” Reinhardt said.

“We partnered with several environmental organizations to make this [project] happen and clean up further the water in the creek, and we went and got a $200,000 grant from clean water fund (bonds), and now that money will go elsewhere,” Reinhardt said. “I find that sad.”

Malibu Shoppers’ Spending Habits Spotlighted in Study

• Survey Suggests Residents Are Not Happy with the Current Retail Mix in the Community

BY BILL KOENEKER

An economic study recently completed by a consulting firm for the City of Malibu that was designed to measure shoppers’ preferences has concluded that given the current zoning requirements, high rents, land prices and land availability, Malibu’s ability to satisfy its community-serving retail demand is limited.

One of the options offered by the consultants to remedy the perceived situation would be for municipal planners to offer incentives to developers.

Builders would be allowed higher densities if they would allocate a portion of new space to below-market commercial renters in order to achieve the mix of community-serving needs that are currently priced out at existing market-rate retail costs.

The study also draws other conclusions from the household shopper survey that was carried out this year.

“The results of the survey suggest that residents are unhappy with Malibu’s current mix of retail shopping opportunities. They were especially concerned that existing retailers cater primarily to visitors and very high income households,” the report states. “Residents would like to see a hardware/home improvement store, a general merchandise store selling household goods and a specialty food store.”

The study indicates that Malibu households spend $276 million annually on retail purchases. Of that amount, $86 million is spent at business establishments located in Malibu and another $189 million is spent in establishmenta outside the community. “This sales leakage could support an additional 618,000 square feet of retail space in Malibu,” the study goes on to state.

Local retail businesses generate about $234 million annually. About $87 million comes from local households and the remaining $147 million comes from shoppers from surrounding communities, tourists and stayover visitors.

The study also talked about the need for more office space. There are 1479 businesses located in Malibu, of which 900 are located at a residential address, according to the study. The total businesses together generate about $1.2 billion in sales. Of the 900, there are 510 business and personal services, 139 are industrial, mostly construction, another 170 are retail businesses, and 81 are miscellaneous, according to the report.

“The high rents, low vacancy rates (less than five percent) and the very high number of home-based businesses suggest a very strong demand for office space in Malibu,” the study suggests.

The shopper survey generated 1002 responses; the most often requested store types were hardware/home improvement store (626 mentions), specialty grocery store (731 mentions), household goods store (147 mentions) and new restaurants (187 mentions).

The three major categories of retail spending by locals were department/discount stores where Malibuites shelled out about $28 million, new car dealers where locals spent about $63 million and grocery stores where residents plucked down about $42 million. The report indicates that other retail store categories with more than $20 million of annual spending by local households include specialty retail, gasoline service stations, apparel/clothing and eating places.

The city council is expected to consider the completed study that is described by staff as building upon the 2000 economic plan. Last year the council determined the scope of the study and decided its consultant Applied Development Economics, Inc. should proceed with the survey.

The matter is currently before the council in order for members to discuss the results and provide further direction to the planning staff about whether to implement an Economic Element to the General Plan, according to a staff report.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Making Public Policy

BY ANNE SOBLE

It’s too soon to say how the differences over the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District proposal to place seepage pits along the sides of Malibu Creek will ultimately be resolved, if at all. The case for keeping the pits as far from the creek bed as possible has merits, but that doesn’t alter misgivings about how this issue was handled by all the parties. More troubling than the science being debated is the public policy process and the lack of communication between everyone involved. Terms such as “ambush,” “outrageous,” “end run” and “blindsided” don’t create much other than acrimony, of which there’s already a surfeit, especially when it comes to Malibu water quality issues, where everyone not only has an opinion but also assumes that their “opposition” harbors a self-serving agenda at the expense of the “public good.”

The current situation was compounded, dare one say, by arrogance and haste, which can only bode ill in complicated public policy formulation. The LVMWD assumed it had a slam dunk vote after it received California Coastal Commission staff approval and the blessings of key groups and grant money. Officials saw no need to even take part in the public hearing. Other environmental groups assessed the situation differently. Fearing that Tapia had found a loophole in the current creek dumping regulations (a reflection of past experiences?), activists sprang into action, and challenged the project’s proximity to the water’s edge. The CCC hearing should have been where views were openly exchanged. Las Virgenes disregarded the notion that every public forum should be accorded the respect that is its due in the policy-making process. Participants that regard public votes as window dressing sell their proposals, as well as the democratic process, short.

One doesn’t need a class in Public Administration 101 to realize that there are few, if any, policy slam dunks. Coastal Commissioners were obligated to balance concerns about potential adverse impact on creek flow with the case that the plan’s habitat enhancement had public benefits. The process was impeded by absent participants and incomplete information. As if public policy-making isn’t difficult enough.

Up and Coming Band Boasts Young Malibuite as Lead Singer

• ‘Sugar in Wartime’ Soon to Rock Local Night Spot with Music from Latest Album

BY VANESSA HARRIS

You’re the star,” says a Sugar in Wartime fan to its bassist, John Wagner, after politely being asked to move away from the Derby Club’s stage moments before the band’s performance. “That’s right man, but that doesn’t mean I have to be an ass,” responds Wagner humbly with a grin. Judging by Wagner’s ease and modesty right before performing, it seems his mother taught him right. Well, either his mother, or perhaps the lead singer of his band, Thaïs Carmen. As the main figure and only female of the band, both Carmen’s genuineness and good-heartedness seems to radiate through her influence on her bandmates and the music that comes from the band itself.

Sugar in Wartime is a cut above modern day L.A. bands. The group describes itself as its “own brand of melodic rock, blending vintage inspired tones, danceable beats, and candid, poetic lyrics,” Sugar in Wartime is a perfect mix of good people, creative artists, and talented musicians, with Thaïs Carmen as lead vocals, guitarist John Wagner as bassist and harmonies, and Ronnie Hanks as drummer.

Sugar in Wartime’s unpretentiousness is hard to find in a band these days, especially within the 90265 zip code. Perhaps one can attribute Carmen’s, as well as the rest of the band’s, ease and grace in the entertainment world to growing up within it here in Malibu.

Carmen’s full name is Thaïs (pronounced TAY-iss) Carmen Albert. As the child of two famous acting parents, Edward Albert, Jr. and Katherine Woodville, and the granddaughter of internationally recognized entertainer and humanitarian Eddie Albert, she learned firsthand how to deal with the pace that Southern California seems to impose on those within the entertainment world.

She chose Thaïs Carmen as a stage name because she “liked the ring better.” Her middle name, Carmen, is a family tradition that has been shared by several generations. The name Carmen also reflects her grandmother’s Latin roots and the family’s social and environmental activism.

Carmen, 25, recalls a childhood in a Malibu that was more early California rancho than high-end designer outlet. She grew up in the small town that still fights to hold on to its lifestyle in pockets throughout the community. She reflects on her childhood home, a warm and inviting Southwestern-style horse ranch, as “a magical place that gave [her] a lot of creative opportunity due to the space and solitude.” This enabled her to find her passion as a songwriter, and drove her to pursue it by receiving formal training at UCSB’s College of Creative Studies.

This is the extent of her technical training, as she is a self-taught musician. Here is where her fellow band-mates fill in the gaps. Bassist Wagner has had formal music training since the second grade, while drummer Hanks has taken lessons for over 10 years.

They describe this balance as ideal when it comes to their music making. Carmen bases her part of the teamwork on emotion—what she feels a song needs or is missing. Wagner, on the other hand, reaches into his music knowledge, but “makes sure to keep theory from tainting what’s happening with each song,” whereas Hanks helps fill in what he thinks a song needs based on his years of experience with playing in all different types of bands.

In addition to their different musical training, they attribute the ability of their band to thrive to their different backgrounds. Hanks grew up in a blue-collar home, and Wagner lived throughout Europe in a military household, while Carmen laughingly describes her childhood culture as a world of “hippies.” They say that the different set of views and values that each has been taught mesh and are what makes their songwriting and music work.

As each fills in the other’s missing parts, they are, in essence, creating the completing parts of Sugar in Wartime.

With their debut album “Out of the Woods” out, Sugar in Wartime is more complete than ever. After spending two years on “cooking and re-cooking the album until the recipe was perfect,” the members of the group have successfully composed, mixed and produced the album solo. When listening to the quality of the songs, it’s surprising to think that the recordings took place in a make-shift portable studio that landed everywhere from the children’s daycare center that Hanks works at, to each of their homes and apartments.

“Sugar in Wartime,” a name that Carmen originally called her chapbook of poems, seems to have stuck with the band throughout the years. Carmen came up with the concept as “something good in hard times…something that shouldn’t be rare.” As a name that just started out as a metaphor, its meaning has become more political in current times. However, the band does not like that the name now has a political attachment, because they “don’t think music should be political, but instead [be] an escape from such things.”

Sugar in Wartime hopes to provide just this kind of escape for its fans, as the group pursues “longevity with loyal fans and loyal listeners,” as opposed to focusing only on producing hit songs. With their view of music today, they are optimistic about establishing this fan base as they find it “encouraging and exciting to see that people are turning away from the mainstream norm and going out of their way to find good music,” says Wagner.

Some would say that the music seekers do not need to go any further, because the band they are looking for is here. The “good vibes” that Sugar in Wartime produces can be found on their website at SugarInWartime.com, or by catching their next show at the Malibu Inn on Oct. 4. Rationing is definitely not required.

City Official Says Action Taken Against Party Beach House

• Resident Complaints to Receive Prompt Attention and Unpermitted Activities Will Be Curbed

BY BILL KOENEKER

A Malibu city official said last week that code enforcement action has been taken, based on a complaint, on one of the beach party houses and at the same time issued a warning that the practice will not be tolerated in the future without the necessary permits.

“We will take swift action,” said Gail Sumpter, who is the city’s permit services supervisor and oversees code enforcement.

Some Malibu Road neighbors filed an enforcement complaint recently with the city about the beach party activities that feature celebrities such as at the so-called Polaroid Beach house.

The residences are used by public relations firms as a marketing device for product placement and to familiarize the young elite with various new products.

Millions of dollars of free publicity is generated as hordes of celebrity watchers view the well-known partygoers’ images as they are flashed around the globe.

One of the neighbors, who did not wish to be identified, said their privacy and quiet had been shattered since the parties began at the end of June.

Sumpter, who declined to reveal which party house was involved in the enforcement action, confirmed she had received a complaint about one of the homes.

“As a result of the complaint I have contacted the owner and as a result of that, through their attorney, has agreed to cease the commercial activities,” said Sumpter, who said she was aware that there were two other party beach houses, but she had not received any complaints about those.

The code enforcement supervisor explained how the city handles these matters. “Currently, the city council policy requires that I not take any enforcement action without a written complaint.”

Sumpter said the other difficult aspect about enforcement with party beach houses is the transitory nature of the activity.

“By the time people notice something is happening, if it gets to me, we are well into the summer. Some of these people [at the beach party houses] think they can prolong the enforcement process,” she added.

The city spokesperson had a warning for the operators of future party houses. “I plan to be more proactive next summer. We are not going to tolerate this,” she said.

Sumpter said the activities are clearly commercial in nature and require a permit. None of the party house operators have applied for or received permits.

“The municipal code is clear that a commercial use needs a permit. These are definitely commercial. They need a Temporary Use Permit and there are constraints,” added the code enforcement manager, who said a property owner can obtain no more that four TUPs per year, among other rules.

A neighbor of the Polaroid house said there had been anywhere from 15 to 18 parties in the last month and half. “It is so frustrating and an invasion of our privacy,” she added.

She believes the commotion caused by such activities could reduce property values and also make it more difficult to sell real estate in the area.

At least three party houses and their bevy of young celebrities have been splashed on the Internet and various blogs and other publications during the past summer. Another house, known as the LG House Malibu, is rented out to an electronics firm, which invites the casts of various television productions to host parties. The residence is stocked with six 71-inch plasma HDTVs and other electronics for partygoers to use and become familiar with.

Another highly publicized residence is the so-called Silver Spoon Beach Body house where most recently a well-attended celebrity baby shower was held.

The promotional tool has been used to varying degrees of success over the past years, but seemed to take off last year when Polaroid set up its party house on Carbon Beach and generated a payout in what marketers call branding or brand recognition that comes along with the publicity generated by a celebrity-laden event.

Coastal Tells Tapia to Stay Out of Malibu Creek

• Commission Votes 6-4 Against Las Virgenes Proposal to Put Treated Effluent in Ponds

BY HANS LAETZ

Concerns about adding additional water to overburdened Malibu Lagoon were voiced last week by the California Coastal Commission, when it rejected a request from operators of the Tapia Wastewater Treatment Plant to build a series of disposal ponds on the banks of Malibu Creek upstream of the coast.

Meeting in San Francisco on Aug. 8, the commission voted 6-4 against a proposal from the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District to reconstruct ponds covering 2.5 acres adjacent to the creekbed.

“Because of the nature of the sandy soils there, these ponds would be connected to the stream,” said commissioner Sara Wan, a Malibu resident, voicing worries that adding water to the Malibu Creek watershed would increase groundwater levels in Malibu Lagoon. “There is a reason why the regional water board has prohibited discharge [into the creek] during the dry season.”

The district had hoped to use the ponds to hold treated effluent at times throughout the year at varying intervals, let it evaporate and then seep into the ground. The Tapia plant treats 9.5 million gallons of sewage every day from five cities along U.S. 101 from Westlake Village to Calabasas, and during the winter rainy season, reclaimed water that is described as nearly clean enough to drink is dumped into the creek.

But during dry summer months, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board does not allow Tapia to put its so-called clean water into the creek. Although the district sells most of the cleansed water for agriculture and park use in the Conejo Valley and Calabasas areas, it has too much clean water on its hands during spring and fall, when recycled-water demand is low.

The seepage pits would have formed a wildlife sanctuary and been open to the public for birdwatching. But they would have been located within 10 feet of the creek, and would have fed the underground plume of water that flows down Malibu Canyon into central Malibu, raising groundwater levels and causing Malibu Lagoon to breach during summer months, polluting beaches.

Sarah Abramson, a scientist at Heal The Bay, testified that her group and Santa Monica Baykeeper are both opposed to the seepage ponds. “We view these as simply an attempt to sidestep the prohibition against dry-weather discharge into the creek,” she said.

She noted that the federal government has set a zero level for dissolved nutrients to be discharged into the creek, and charged that Tapia’s owners have been violating that limit for five years.

“Their discharge causes additional breaching of the lagoon at Surfrider Beach,” she said, “and as a resident of Malibu and a surfer at that beach, I am particularly disturbed by that.

“Tapia has neither earned the right nor demonstrated the need to discharge to these proposed ponds,” she said.

Malibuite Connor Everts blames a massive die-off of an endangered fish species in the creek last year on too much water flowing into the creek and lagoon from Tapia. “Two hundred of the remaining steelhead trout turned yellow and died last year as a result of the nutrients in that creek,” he said.

“To put further nutrients in the form of new water in that creek would exacerbate the problems that we have had,” Everts told the commission.

Tapia’s operators had said a new $60 million upgrade being built at Tapia now will remove nitrogen and phosphorous to a level below drinking water regulations.

The ponds would be built where similar ponds existed before floods in 1983 washed them out, just above the Malibu Canyon Road bridge over the creek.

Commissioners said they might approve seepage ponds if Tapia moved them further away from the creek. But some commissioners said the surplus water should be sold to farmers and recreational interests in the Oxnard area.

In other Malibu-related action, the Coastal Commission unanimously approved the State Parks Department’s plan to rehabilitate the old Rodeo Grounds housing area in Topanga State Park, that is located northwest of the Pacific Coast Highway intersection with Topanga Canyon Boulevard.

Some 26,000 tons of material will be excavated from a berm along the creek, which will be restored to its natural condition.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

Malibu Connections

BY ANNE SOBLE

The recent hard-fought battle to protect the southern coast from the BHP Billiton Cabrillo Port liquefied natural gas floating facility forced Malibuites to become more aware of Australian financial and political forces, as well as that nation’s environmental concerns, or lack thereof. So too will assessments of where the community should stand on other LNG projects that are proposed by energy and resource behemoths from down under. It will not suffice to determine the potential impact of a proposal on Malibuites (the backyard issues), but we must question how it impacts the populations and ecosystems that are directly affected. This is an indirect part of the focus of a group of dedicated environmentalists, including locals Daryl Hannah and Leonardo DiCaprio. The Reef Check Foundation is trying to raise awareness about the crisis conditions in the coral reefs and in the rocky reefs ecosystem in California (Reef Check California). The group is planning a local fundraiser in mid-September.

More than 5000 people from 110 countries have signed an International Declaration of Reef Rights and hope to draw attention to the need to preserve remaining coral reefs and try to rehabilitate damaged reefs globally. Reef Check estimates that as much as 20 percent of the world’s coral reefs have been irreparably damaged or completely destroyed in the last two decades. Obviously, protection of imperiled areas won’t occur in a “reef check” vacuum. If a company wants to do business in California and its provision of resources, such as LNG, comes at a cost to native populations, or coral reefs, or other fragile and endanger habitat, that has to be factored into the project’s cost to the people of California and must be part of the public policy debate about whether this state needs or wants resources that come with an environmentally devastating price tag. Companies that owe their power and wealth to extracting resources from nature are driven more by the concepts of “exploit and discard” than they are by the notions of “protect and nurture.” When projects are stopped in their tracks, the giants pay attention. But we have to be certain they understand why.

Second Man Arrested in Malibu Ferrari Crash Caper

• Irish National Who Fled U. S. and International Media Circus Illegally Reenters Country

BY ANNE SOBLE

Trevor Michael Karney, 26, the only other person who may actually know what transpired the morning of the Feb. 21, 2006, Enzo Ferrari crash heard around the world, pleaded not guilty Monday to misdemeanor counts of providing false information to a police officer and resisting, obstructing or delaying a police investigation.

Karney, who was at the scene of the spectacular totaling of the magnificent red Enzo, one of only 400 made, left the country not long after he and the car’s ultimately determined driver, Bo Stefan Eriksson, who is now serving a sentence in state prison, were allowed to be transported from the west Malibu Pacific Coast Highway crash site under questionable circumstances.

Karney departed for his native Ireland, which was downplayed by authorities at the time, who had bigger fish to fry as the circumstances regarding ownership of the Enzo and a trio of million-dollar-plus exotic supercars by Eriksson, a Swede and former Gizmondo handheld game executive who had taken up residence in Beverly Hills, took center stage.

But word began circulating a month ago that it might now be Karney’s turn to redress any notion that deputies had not handled the accident scene in an appropriate manner by not subjecting the pair to further questioning as witnesses or in some other capacity.

Karney was arrested last Wednesday in a Marina del Rey apartment. On the day of the Ferrari crash, he had told deputies at the scene that he lived on a yacht in the Marina that was subsequently determined to belong to Carl Freer, another Swede who was a colleague of Eriksson’s at Gizmondo.

According to a spokesperson for the district attorney’s office, despite Monday’s not guilty plea and the bail amount of $62,500, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency has put a hold on his release because of his alleged recent illegal entry into the United States from Ireland at the Mexican border.

Initially, Eriksson muddled matters at the crash scene by sending sheriff’s deputies on what was ultimately determined to be a wild goose chase, searching for a “mystery” driver named “Dietrich.” The saga was ultimately put to rest by DNA analysis and forensics test results that put Eriksson behind the wheel.

Did that leave Karney in the passenger seat as the other survivor of the crash of a vehicle designed to protect its cabin inhabitants at all costs? He became the center of his own auto-racing fanatics firestorm that contends that he was filming Eriksson’s 162-mph driving in an attempt to create a new version of the 1978 French cinema verité racing classic by iconic Claude Lelouch, “C’etait un Rendezvous,” and that the footage survives.

After the crash, although a journalist at the scene described Eriksson’s disheveled appearance and strong odor of alcohol, Karney allegedly had the presence of mind to borrow a cellphone from a passing motorist and reportedly arrange for men who may have been following the Enzo in another vehicle to show up and flash “federal homeland security” identification that would convince sheriff’s deputies to let the pair leave the crash scene.

That motorist later told authorities he found the loaded magazine for a .40 caliber Glock pistol that Karney allegedly left behind when he was in the vehicle.

The tangled web may yet begin to unravel.

MSN Photo
PLEA—On Monday, standing behind double glass panels in the courtroom,Trevor Michael Karney pleaded not guilty to all charges in Los Angeles Municipal Court. A bail review hearing is slated for later this week, but ICE, the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, has placed a hold on his release, as has the Orange County Automated Warrant System.

Plans for Makeover and Expansion of Trancas Center Get First Airing

• Proposal Includes Creation of a Common Area to Try to Encourage Pedestrians to Stay Awhile

BY BILL KOENEKER

Plans for the expansion and remodeling of the Trancas shopping center, a commercial center located on the corner of Pacific Coast Highway and Trancas Canyon Road, were unveiled this week by Dan Bercu, the owner/ partner of the center now known as the Trancas Country Mart and local architect Doug Burdge. An application for a coastal permit was submitted to city planning officials last week.

Bercu said the remodeling plans, which will include an additional 25,731 square feet of new retail shops west of Trancas Creek and another 11,644 square feet of office and service retail in one building east of the creek in what was formerly the Trancas Riders and Ropers arena, would offer the ambience and style of his similar collaboration at the Brentwood Country Mart.

The shopping center owner emphasized he and his partners would hand pick retail merchants and did not want to include chain stores.

Bercu also talked about how he would attempt to emulate the success of the Malibu Country Mart with its common green and playground creating a focal point for west Malibu residents.

The center owner stressed what would be different is the design of the new buildings, which he said would have a rustic feel and what Burdge described as “East Coast Hamptons” rather than the more traditional Mediterranean. “It is more New England-Connecticut Yankee meets the Wild West,” added Bercu.

Over a half million square feet of the commercially-zoned property would be open space that includes footpaths, an equestrian trail, gardens and picnic areas.

The existing HOWS market would remain. Bookend stores are proposed for both sides of the grocery store.

Additional freestanding buildings would be constructed around the common green opposite the existing Starbucks building. A freestanding bank is planned at the site of the long gone Mobil service station.

Other plans include a parking lot across Trancas Canyon Road behind the existing service station. This would require pedestrians to cross the busy street to get to the center.

The proposed one-story building on the old TR&R site would have its own parking lot with five or six storefronts housing exercise and yoga studios and office space. A walking path would connect the smaller center to the main compound west of the creek. Ingress and egress would be from Pacific Coast Highway.

Bercu said the center would maintain its existing 250 parking spaces. Burdge said no variances are being sought.

The shopping center owner, who has lived in Malibu with his family for nearly 10 years, said he wants to be sensitive to the many ideas and agendas of the various stakeholders in the area, including the members of the adjacent homeowners associations. Bercu said he wants to meet with community members and leaders.

“We have tried to take a different approach,” said Bercu, who acknowledged the shopping center has suffered from years of neglect and has maintenance issues.

He candidly said the only way the entire corner of Trancas Canyon Road and PCH could be improved is with the expansion of the center and the ability to collect more rents.

Bercu said he selected Burdge, primarily a residential architect, because that is the scale and feel he wanted for the center. Burdge said the idea was to create a series of single level, small-scale buildings that “function as an extension of one’s home.”

The timeline for the shopping center includes phase one which is the addition of two restaurants in the existing Starbucks building and the relocation of the karate school to a temporary tent structure.

A $1.5 million upgrade to the septic system is also planned as part of phase one. The permits for those additions have already been submitted.

Bercu said it was too early to tell how much the total cost for the redo will be. He said they were told by city officials the planning process might take up to 18 months. The existing stores will remain open during construction.

Casting a cautious eye to the future, the commercial landlord said he hoped the project could be finished by sometime in late 2009 or 2010.

Accounts Differ in Malibu Canyon Park Shooting Death

• Los Angeles Man Killed by State Parks Ranger Investigating Report of Gunfire Saturday

BY HANS LAETZ

Was it a case of a twitchy ex-con nudging his car up against a police officer? Or a nervous park ranger fumbling with his equipment and overreacting to a confused man?

A team of outside homicide detectives is investigating Saturday afternoon’s shooting death of a South Los Angeles man at a crowded Malibu Canyon park entrance by a police-certified California State Parks Department ranger.

The shooting death of Arturo Guzman, 29, is being investigated by the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol and the state parks agency. Park rangers are certified police officers with full law enforcement training, in addition to being naturalists and park guides.

The scene at the park after the 3 p.m. shooting Saturday was chaotic—the incident occurred 200 yards inside the entrance gate at the Tapia Park entrance, just north of the Piuma Road signal. Hundreds of people were inside that section of the park, where cool oak groves and a few swimming holes along Malibu Creek are a magnet for crowds from the hot Los Angeles basin.

The shooting occurred when a park ranger with four years’ experience drove into the park to investigate a report of gunfire. Gang members from the city are known to settle scores under the oaks, parks officials say.

As the ranger—whose name is not being released—drove into the first parking lot, a car edged out of the lot. The ranger got out of his marked Ford Expedition, stood in front of the other vehicle, and said he repeatedly ordered its driver to stop.

“He was wearing a uniform, he had just emerged from his marked state car, and he repeatedly ordered the man to stop the car,” said Assistant State Parks Director Roy Stearns.

“This incident went in one second from ‘I need to question you’ to ‘Oh crap, you’re trying to run me over,’” he said. “The officer had a split second to determine what was happening, and then the car bumped into him.”

Guzman’s brother and sister appeared at Sunday’s official news conference on the shooting to confront the police, and contradict their version of the events.

“My brother did pull over and he put his hands up,” said Krystal Guzman, clutching a cell phone and unsuccessfully holding back tears.

She told the row of TV cameras “I guess the park ranger was nervous because he was trying to pull out his gun, he was trying to call reinforcements, he was trying to do a lot of different things at the same time, but he pulled out his gun and he shot him in the head.”

The victim reportedly had recently been released from state prison for assault on a police officer.

When the gunfire rang out, parents grabbed their children and retreated from the area, witnesses said. As other police units arrived, the three passengers in Guzman’s car ran into the surrounding hills amid the confusion.

The area was cordoned off, and a search began. Helicopters assisted in finding the three persons, as rangers were not sure if they were suspects in the original “shots fired” call, said park Superintendent Ron Schaefer.

“We had to contain the scene, and collect witnesses, plus we had the three outstanding subjects out in the hills somewhere,” he said.

The three passengers were taken into custody, questioned and released. Rangers said it did not appear that they were involved in any crime, including whatever triggered the original report of gunfire.

Other state parks rangers from as far away as Pismo Beach and San Onofre were rushed to Malibu to handle other crowded sections of the sprawling joint state and federal parklands.

Sheriff’s deputies, CHP officers, fire paramedics and rangers from the Mountain Resources Conservation Authority and the National Park Service also went to Tapia Park, where hundreds of people had to be diverted around the shooting scene at the park entrance to leave the once-peaceful glen.

“People were pretty good about it,” said an exhausted Schaefer Sunday afternoon, 24 hours after the shooting.

Stearns said his understanding of the officer’s account is based on preliminary reports at the scene. “We have not had a chance to debrief the officer yet.”

Sheriff’s homicide detectives will conduct the formal criminal probe, and the ranger has been placed on leave until the results are in, both of which are standard procedures. Since the ranger is a state police officer, the CHP will conduct the administrative review for State Parks.

Schaefer said California park rangers serve an unusual hybrid role, usually graduating from college with degrees relating to forestry or wildlands management, then going to a police academy for training in law enforcement.

“Our people do not go into this job to wear a badge, and we’ve only had five or seven shootings in our entire history,” he said Sunday afternoon. “But they know they can go from doing a campfire program to heavy law enforcement on any given shift.”

Group’s Safaris Show Public the Way to the Water’s Edge on Malibu’s More Secluded Beaches

• ‘This Beach Is Your Beach’

BY ANNE SOBLE

From the Malibuites who live on the land side of Pacific Coast Highway to visitors from halfway around the world, the search for the quintessential Malibu beach experience can be an exercise in frustration if one is limited to the crowded sands accessible from the obvious entry points that lead to the large public expanses of coastline.

Although it may require a map or two and a hefty stack of state documents to ascertain where some of them are located, there are access points interspersed between the often sterile facades of homes on the beach side of the PCH. Beyond these easy-to-miss access ways is a wide expanse of ocean, large swaths of vacant sand and rare opportunities to feel at one with the sea.

Finding these points and understanding the public’s right to be on the sand up to the mean high tide line might seem to be a formidable task, but a group that calls itself the Los Angeles Urban Rangers is changing that.

The group’s nucleus of four rangers have backgrounds in government, journalism, art, and architecture, and share a commitment to public awareness. While others search for the perfect tan, the quartet promotes the alternative beach experience that is available if one knows where to look.

Garbed in snappy ranger-like outfits of their own design, with caps sporting the spiffy Urban Ranger logo, the group’s mantra is get involved, learn, be empowered and enjoy the world around you—it’s a wonderful place.

Formed as a collective to shine a spotlight on the diverse wonders of the greater Los Angeles area, the L.A. Urban Rangers plan one or two projects a year, which they fund personally (most are low cost) or are aided by grants from educational institutions or related organizations.

Currently spotlighted are several weekends of east Malibu and west Malibu “safaris” to show people know how to get beyond (or more usually between) the mansions that line the PCH like martinets so they can enjoy the public beaches on the other side.

“We are trying to show people how to use these public lands,” said Jennifer Price, one of the leaders of the group. “People don’t know where the public land is; they don’t know how to find it.”

Price said residents along the coast, especially in the Broad Beach area, have tried to keep the public at bay for years. “But this is slowly changing.”

She noted that on Saturday morning’s west Malibu safari, the security guard who came over to see what the group was doing was pleasant and helpful.

Price said, “A few homeowners still express displeasure that anyone is near their property, but others are gradually learning to accept the reality that the beach up to the mean high tide line is public land.”

Price says no one has a problem with residents hiring guards to protect private property as long as they accept that their backyards are adjacent to public land. “They have chosen to live next to one of the most important public spaces in California,” she said.

Participants in the safaris are shown how to determine which part of the beach is public. The sand below the mean high tide is publicly owned. They learn how to clearly state their rights if they are challenged by overzealous guards who try to shoo beachgoers away from a beach.

The Urban Rangers have put together a map of where the 16 current public access points along Malibu are located and which of these stretches of beachfront have the most easements.

“The ocean and the sun belong to all of us,” said safari participant Gail Cane. Heads nodded at the notion that no one has to apologize for seeking access to public resources.

Price wants the safaris to be fun as well as informative. “The beach is a wonderful place to refresh and restore one’s spirit.”

The next free safaris are slated for Aug. 11 and 12. There is already a waiting list. For information or to make a reservation, visit www.laurbanrangers.org.

A downloadable map of the access points is available at the site, as is a guide to beach access that is a work in progress and the definitive compilation of access ways that are open to the public.

New Plans and Public Funding Restart Rambla Road Work

• Residents Feel Pressure to Move Quickly Because of Current Fire Danger

BY BILL KOENEKER

Rambla Pacifico area homeowners were all set to see a plan for a private/public road become reality until the construction bids returned with price tags about double what their budget was.

Despite the setback, the Lower Rambla Pacifico Road Owners Association is moving ahead with a new plan within its budget and has increased its efforts to get some kind of access in quickly because of the current high fire danger.

The separate issue of an emergency accessway is still under negotiations with the La Costa Homeowners Association, according to LRPROA president Scott Dittrich.

That is just part of the plans that will require more permits from the city and homeowners hope there will be needed cash as well from municipal officials who last week renewed their promise of $200,000 for the private/public road, which would connect lower Rambla Pacifico with the upper portions of the road, thereby saving residents a seven-mile trip for a two-mile distance.

Residents emphasize it is not just a matter of convenience, but also the larger issue of safety, especially during disasters.

Dittrich said the new roadway winds down from upper Rambla and will connect in a different location with lower Rambla than originally planned and permitted by the city.

Current plans call for the roadway to switchback from the top of the slide where it will connect with the existing intact portion of Rambla Pacifico and continue to switchback along the slide mass to connect to the existing paved portions of lower Rambla just inland from Pacific Coast Highway.

During a short on-site inspection, Dittrich showed a reporter how one section of the roadway that would have required expensive caissons for reinforcement will be abandoned and bypassed—an area known as Pop’s Pass.

Currently, bulldozers and other construction equipment are clearing out some of the brush and outlining a swath that would be followed by the newly planned roadway. Dittrich said the work is being undertaken for aerial surveys to determine if the new plans will fly.

The road owner’s spokesperson pointed out how the group had purchased many of the lots in the slide area and the underlying easements that will allow them to control access.

The private portion of the roadway will be gated at each end where the public street then picks up again.

The Rambla Pacifico Road redo got the green light from the city last December.

When the construction contract was put out to bid, all of the bids were a million dollars or more over the association’s budget allocation.

Certain sections of the road are not considered “geologically acceptable,” and consequently those sections are being designated a private road with gated restricted access.

The number of motorists is limited to the people who join the road association. At last count, there were 57 homeowners—most in the city—who belong to the association.

Mountain Lion Killed on Malibu Canyon Road

A male mountain lion collared by the National Park Service was found fatally injured Tuesday morning on Malibu Canyon Road near Tunnel One, according to authorities.

An NPS spokesperson said the young male named P-9 was apparently hit by a vehicle on the canyon roadway.

“We are pretty sure it was hit by a car,” said Charles Taylor, a spokesperson for the Park Service, who said the big cat’s body was on the roadway pavement.

The remains were turned over to the state Department of Fish and Game for a necropsy.

Besides the official cause of death, park officials want to determine whether the animal had consumed traces of chemical anti-coagulants.

The substances, often used in many types of rodent poisons, are now thought to have found their way up the predator food chain to the top level and may be killing off animals. “We can’t check that in a mountain lion until a necropsy is performed, “ Taylor said.

P-9 was collared on May 15 with a tracking device and had recently been observed traveling through Malibu Creek State Park and Santa Ynez Canyon located near Topanga Canyon State Park.

Taylor said they do not believe it is the same cougar that was spotted on the Pepperdine University campus several weeks ago.

The dead cat is believed to have been two or three years old and was not one of the kittens born to a female that was killed during a fight with a larger male lion over a year ago.

With the demise of P-9, it is estimated that the current population of mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains is four.

There are two females, one male and another so-called mystery cat. There have been six recorded deaths of the cougars, according to Taylor, over the past four years.

Repeated sightings of smaller, uncollared mountain lions has led some observers to think that new animals are managing to traverse populated areas, and even freeways, to join the gene pool in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Without this potential for diversity, the big cats will continue to face difficult odds of healthy survival in an increasingly inhospitable environment.

Illegal Zuma U-Turns Continue Despite Candlestick Barrier

• Temporary Measure Leaves Motorists Puzzled as Hazards Appear Unchecked

BY HANS LAETZ

A mile-long row of candlestick-style markers has been installed along Pacific Coast Highway at Zuma Beach, and an unscientific survey of beach-going motorists has elicited an average assessment best summed up as “huh?”

The 30-inch-tall yellow-tipped reflector wands have been glued along a stretch of pavement that—although striped with four solid yellow lines—is the frequent scene of collisions and near-crashes caused by persons making illegal U-turns. Three people were killed in U-turn crashes there in December and May.

“We didn’t know what [the markers] were for, we thought they were just to mark the lanes and we made a U-turn anyway,” said Paul Rheinfelder, a Phoenix resident, as his children clambered out of the minivan Tuesday. “We can’t get a ticket for that, can we?”

Last week, a spokesperson for the California Department of Transportation said continuous paddle-style channelizers—with bright orange panels and a steel curb—would be bolted to PCH between Morning View Drive and Trancas Creek.

Instead, Caltrans engineers decided to install the slender plastic wands, spaced every 10-12 feet, as a temporary visual aid until a $200,000 cement median curb can be funded and installed.

“The yellow panels are a permanent solution, so they will not be installed there,” said Caltrans spokesperson Jeanne Bonfilio. “The white markers will serve as a temporary visual impediment to U-turns until the curbs are installed.”

But the white markers are more than far-enough apart to turn between, as noted by all of the half dozen motorists parking their cars when approached by a reporter this week.

“I think it’s misleading, those little flags should be more prominent and higher, and closer together,” said beachgoer Tom Wright of Westlake Village. “People can think they can make a turn right through there.”

Point Dume resident Jeff Eisen, unloading his surfboard, assessed the new poles as failing to communicate that no U-turns are allowed. “The big gaps say it’s wide open, it’s not a physical obstacle like a concrete median.

“To anyone who is going to cross a double-yellow line, these are no barrier at all.”

Not every motorist missed the point of the new sticks. “I would say those [markers] say you’re not supposed to make a U-turn there,” said West Hills surfer Alex Price.

But Pennsylvania tourist David Nash said the new markers left him confused about where he could make a U-turn through 50-mph traffic to park at the beach. “Should I cut between those things, or go to the turn area, where it doesn’t say you can U-turn? It’s not intuitive at all.”

One motorist who didn’t wish to be identified said he thought the row of wands down the highway was “a tribute to a Harry Potter summer.”

Meetings to Begin for LNG Project 22 Miles Off Malibu

• BHP Shuts Down California Operation as Woodside Moves into the Spotlight

BY HANS LAETZ

Just as one Australian energy company sailed out of California waters this week, a second firm dropped anchor in Santa Monica Bay.

Woodside Natural Gas called a news conference Monday to host a key federal regulatory official, who praised the company for promising to hire American workers on the very same project that he will have to make a key decision on in a little more than a year.

U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton said the long approval process for Woodside’s liquefied natural gas project 22 miles south of Malibu’s Point Dume will start in September, with environmental hearings in Los Angeles.

Woodside brought the senior regulatory official to its Santa Monica offices so he could endorse a written promise made by the company this week to use American-flagged ships staffed by U.S. unionized crews in California waters. Although not required, such crewing arrangements are standard for the various LNG plants planned along the U.S. coasts.

Monday’s ceremony in Santa Monica came the same week that BHP Billiton offered its three local employees jobs at its Houston domestic headquarters. “I can confirm we are closing the Oxnard office,” company spokesperson Patrick Cassidy said.

The firm might give up its quest to market natural gas in California due to world market conditions that have changed drastically since planning began on the Malibu LNG proposal nearly five years ago.

But BHP Billiton’s sometime partner in worldwide oil projects, Woodside, is preparing to begin the lengthy regulatory review and permitting process for its proposed LNG terminal midway between Point Dume and Santa Catalina Island.

Marketed as OceanWay, the Woodside proposal would be different than BHP’s ill-fated Cabrillo Port project, most notably in that the Woodside proposal would use two LNG ships that would loop out to sea, transfer cargo from other LNG carriers, and then anchor in Santa Monica Bay to heat up natural gas onboard the carriers and pipe it ashore.

The proposal calls for two buoys to be anchored 22 miles off the coast, each would remain 100 feet underwater until one of the two transfer ships anchored above it to unload gas. Underseas pipes would carry the gas ashore near Playa del Rey, and the imported gas would be sold to industrial and residential users via the existing Southern California Gas Company pipe system.

Although one ship would be at one of OceanWay’s twin buoys at nearly all times, a permanent factory ship would not be used. Woodside indicates it could eliminate most of the smog that would have been created by the BHP scheme, and OceanWay would be further off Malibu.

OceanWay will also be an “open-access” terminal, meaning it could accept LNG from BHP or any other company. But that may turn into a regulatory issue, because coastal activists have said they will want environmental safeguards at every step of the worldwide extraction and transportation process.

In a statement on U.S. Department of Transportation letterhead, and distributed by the LNG company, the federal Maritime Administrator said he is “pleased to accept, as part of its LNG Deepwater Port license application, a commitment by Woodside Natural Gas to utilize U.S. flag vessels in the company’s proposed ‘OceanWay’ LNG import facility off the coast of California.”

Connaughton, who is in charge of approving or denying the Woodside federal application, said using “U.S. citizens aboard the LNG vessels serving our natural gas receiving facilities is clearly in the nation’s best interest. Placing the transportation of LNG under the control of U.S. mariners, who are subject to strenuous background checks, will add an additional layer of supply chain.”

Woodside’s president, Steve Larson, said the company “worked closely with the Maritime Administration on this issue. We are dedicated to the highest level of safety and security for our project, and U.S. flagging is consistent with that commitment.”

Although the ship crews matter appears noncontroversial, the environmental hearings that will start in September could be a repeat of a stormy four-year controversy that brought Malibu residents out by the hundreds to protest a proposed aircraft carrier-sized factory ship on the northwest horizon.

Last spring, the California State Lands Commission rejected the BHP proposal for several reasons, including the large overall amount of greenhouse gases that Cabrillo Port would have added to the planet’s atmosphere at all phases of the transportation of gas. But the Lands Commission has no say in the Woodside project, which will be decided in at the federal level by the same agency head who appeared at Woodside’s news conference.

The City of Los Angeles also will have a say in the matter, because the OceanWay pipelines will come ashore at, and then cross, city property, including Los Angeles International Airport. But the federal government is not ceding control of the permitting process to local government this time, as it did with Cabrillo Port.

BHP’s opponents, the Santa Barbara-based Environmental Defense Center and California Coastal Protection Network, said they would not be as involved in analyzing Woodside’s project near Malibu and Los Angeles as they were in the recent BHP controversy at Malibu and Oxnard.

“It’s out of our service area,” said EDC attorney Linda Krop.

“We’re going to be working with Los Angeles-area groups very closely in watching this,” said CCPN director Susan Jordan. But she noted that two additional LNG terminals, one off Oxnard and another at Seal Beach, are also about to enter the application process, meaning her group might be stretched thin.

“The BHP project set a very high and new standard,” Jordan said. “We are going to have to make sure that all agencies use the same set of standards on the other [applications], which is only fair and the right thing to do.”

The federal government said it would begin the Woodside application process with a “scoping hearing” at an unspecified date in September in Los Angeles. At that session, the public will be allowed to list potential areas of concern that must be examined as the proposal goes through an Environmental Impact Report.

The BHP EIR took four years to complete and was ultimately rejected by the state. Environmentalists and industry officials have noted that problems that emerged during Cabrillo Port’s unsuccessful EIR will likely come back and need to be addressed in subsequent projects.

• The Publisher’s Notebook •

An Adoptive Attitude toward Pacific Coast Highway

BY ANNE SOBLE

As laudable as it is that civic-minded volunteers gathered to pick up litter at Zuma Beach on Monday, that they had to do this at all points out the shortcomings in the state’s Adopt-a-Highway program. When the state Department of Transportation, better known by the contraction Caltrans, began the AAH program in 1989, some environmental activists involved in the fight to curb billboards and large signage in scenic areas were concerned that it was an end run around the new ban. But if the plan works as it is supposed to, the fact that the visitor’s view of the ocean is marred by a blue AAH sign might be a fair trade-off for a clean stretch of roadway. When an adopter commits to a location, especially a choice location passed by thousands of local residents in their many daily sojourns, it agrees to keep that stretch clean. If the adopter (a family, a company, a civic group) wants to do the work, Caltrans provides the safety gear, litter bags, etc. If an adopter doesn’t, they are expected to contract with a service, of which there are many, to do the work. In short, in return for public recognition 365 days a year for five years, they are expected to honor the bargain.

That there are stretches of Pacific Coast Highway that are adopted but not kept clean indicates some bargains may be in need of review. Caltrans acknowledges that it cannot monitor the AAH program closely and counts on citizens to inform it when there are problems at 213.897.4273, or www.adopt-a-highway.dot.ca.gov, so it can review an adoption’s renewal. We think renewals should be yearly and based on actual inspections. If an adopter does not have the resources to maintain the stretch it has selected, the location should be relinquished to one who can. That’s fair to the visitors to an area and the residents who live along that stretch of highway. If an area requires daily cleanup during the summer, perhaps it should not be eligible for adoption at all. Unspoiled viewline would be an extra benefit of the additional public expense that would be involved. Besides, wouldn’t it be ironic if people see the litter, then look at the sign and get a poor impression of the adopter? In addition, telling people that someone else is responsible for cleanup of an area may absolve them of any sense of responsibility for their own trash.