School Issues Lose Their Steam

• Morning View Consensus Develops

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Morning View Drive traffic and parking issues were back on the agenda for the Malibu city council this week, but this time only a handful of school and neighborhood representatives were present and the majority of those present seemed to be in agreement on most of the issues addressed by the council.
Safety concerns over what many see as dangerously chaotic conditions at the three schools during pick-up and drop-off have been an official issue since 1999, and various attempts to create a permanent solution have met with little success.
The current discussion on short-term traffic and parking safety issues at the Juan Cabrillo Elementary and Malibu High and Middle School campus was heard by the city council on Feb. 23, when the council discussed a plan submitted to them by the Malibu Park Safety Coalition, a recently formed neighborhood organization. Some aspects of the plan, which included a recommendation to reduce the amount of parking available on Morning View Drive, met with a barrage of criticism from parents.
The city council directed staff to arrange a meeting with representatives from the school, district, city, neighborhood, MPSC and local law enforcement to discuss the options.
Recommendations that came out of that workshop included parking restrictions on Morning View Drive, as well as additional crossing guards and law enforcement presence. Participants agreed that before any offsite parking spaces were removed, an equal amount of alternative spaces, preferably on campus, should be made available.
The recommendations presented to the city council at the April 27 meeting included the creation of 13 new parking spaces on the high school campus; restricting an equal amount of parking on Morning View Drive during peak pick-up and drop-off hours; relocating one of the two campus crosswalks; temporarily closing off the two middle driveway entrances in front of the MHS administration building; increased law enforcement presence; and plans to continue to work with the school and the neighborhood to find additional alternative parking.
Prior to the meeting, city staff and consultants had already arranged with the school district to create 13 additional on-campus parking spaces located at the bus garage. The district authorized the city to paint and stripe the area. Malibu High School Principal Mark Kelly informed the council that the school was in the process of deciding how to allocate the new spaces to students.
“Bravo on this improvement,” Malibu Park resident and MPSC member Marshall Thompson said to the council. “It was heartening to turn down the rhetoric and work together.”
After hearing comments from Kelly, PTA representative Colleen Baum, MHS student Hap Henry, and Morning View Drive resident and MPSC spokesperson Steve Scheinkman, the council agreed there should be no parking in the spaces in front of the high school from 7-8:30 a.m. and from 1:30-3:30 p.m.
The council decided against moving the crosswalk—a plan that would have cost the city $5500—but approved adding crossing guards at both existing crosswalks. The council unanimously opposed closing off driveways, but were in favor of increased law enforcement presence.
“Law enforcement is necessary,” Councilmember Jefferson Wagner said, “It really brings down the tone of the drivers.” Wagner described the current traffic violations as “amazing. I’m awestruck by what goes on.” He recommended that the city request a traffic officer to be allocated during peak hours. “They don’t have to be there everyday,” Wagner said.
Councilmember Sharon Barovsky agreed, saying that random enforcement might be the most effective deterrent.
City Manager Jim Thorsen informed the council that the city may have the opportunity to acquire the services of an additional sheriff’s deputy at a reduced price through the federal stimulus package, which could free up more hours for school traffic enforcement.
Scheinkman pointed out that, while the 13 new spaces were an improvement, the school is still 20 spaces short of the number it was required to provide as part of its Coastal Development Permit, issued by the California Coastal Commission.
“I support opening up Clover Heights for public parking,” Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich said. Conley Ulich has previously been an advocate of additional school parking on the residential cul de sac located at the back of the campus, above the playing fields.
Thorsen stated that when the suggestion was made, previous concerns were raised about the lack of supervision—the school does not patrol the area.
“I understand why not students,” Barovsky said, suggesting that the area could be potentially be reserved for staff parking.
“I think for the staff the important thing is that the parking space is there for them,” Kelly replied.
Conley Ulich suggested restricted parking during school hours. She also suggested that parking permits of the type issued in the Westwood neighborhoods surrounding UCLA could be issued to students or staff, although in West Los Angeles those permits are issued to residents in an effort to prevent students and university personnel parking, not encourage it.
Wagner recommended alerting the homeowners of any potential plan. Councilmember John Sibert suggested that the principal could investigate whether any of the school staff would be open to parking in that area. He also reminded the council that “it is important not to set any of this in concrete,” and stated that it would be a learning process.
The mood at the end of the session was cautious optimism. Kelly, Baum and Scheinkman all told the Malibu Surfside News after the meeting that they felt that the council’s action was a step forward and that progress was being made.