Council Turns Down Malibu West HOA’s Preferred Park Plan

• Four Members Vote for Workshop-Based Alternative with More Grading and Roadway at Trancas Site

BY BILL KOENEKER

After wide-ranging debate complete with repeated calls by the mayor for order, a majority of the Malibu City Council this week turned down a plan designed by local architect Ron Goldman for Trancas Canyon Park that was privately commissioned by a number of Malibu West residents.
Instead, on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich dissenting, the council agreed to an alternative plan described as the outcome of a community design workshop on the continuing controversial park.
“I think it is almost criminal,” said Conley Ulich, who had earlier lost on her motion to conduct a community workshop to consider the Goldman plan and verify the $1 million plus cost savings said to be the result of his paired down design.
Conley Ulich insisted that during such uncertain economic times, the council should be more concerned about finances. The city does not have the money for the park.
The Conley Ulich motion lost on 3-2 vote when she could only garner Councilmember Jefferson Wagner’s vote.
Wagner earlier on had attempted to broker a deal with park supporter Justine Petretti, who was recently appointed to a municipal commission by the council, asking her if she would reach her contacts and ask them to consider the Goldman plan at some sort of workshop. “Enough is enough,” said Petretti, who rejected the suggestion and said it was time for the council to make a decision.
That sentiment was echoed by Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, who said she did not think the Goldman plan had the input of the community.
Mayor Andy Stern agreed. “It wasn’t inclusive. Whether it is a good plan or a bad plan. It would be horrible to say, ‘Let’s go with the Goldman plan without a workshop.’ The big problem is with fairness. The people [who hired Goldman] with one point of view should have included other people,” he said.
Councilmember John Sibert had little to say during much of the meeting. “This is not a Malibu West park. This is a Malibu park,” he said in casting a vote for the alternative plan.
Much of the public testimony was from Goldman plan supporters, who said they liked the design because it increased the size of the dog park, eliminated all of the grading from the ridge by relocating the dog park and tot lot to the flat area reduced the size of the sports field, realigned the road way and reduced the number of parking spaces to 35.
Goldman said he took his inspiration from Malibu West residents who said the park needs to fit the lay of the land rather than moving the mountain.
Goldman also talked about how the plan eliminated all of the grading changes that would at the same time lessen construction costs by over $1 million. He said the only amenity that would be reduced in size is the sports field by 30 percent.
Earlier, the council had debated back and forth about the two plans and what were their pluses and minuses.
Conley Ulich talked about how the city’s Master Recreation Plan had no mention of a dog park and the higher priority was a teen center. She said the money could be spent for a better cause.
Barovsky said she wondered if park supporters would show up to endorse the Goldman plan since they had basically created their own at the design workshop. “The reductions were the result of the workshop. Everybody was compromising on one side,” she added.
Questions were asked about the cost of engineering plans for the Goldman design, but Wagner reminded everyone that the city still had to pay for the costs of working up engineering drawings for the alternative plan.
At the end of the evening, just before the vote, shouting started between members of the council and individuals in the audience. and the mayor, who several times lost control of the hearing, more than once had to yell out to call the meeting to order.