Malibu Issues Clog School Board Meeting

• Field Lighting—Parking—Wastewater—Traffic Flow

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Malibu High School’s controversial athletic field lighting plan is back on the agenda at the Thursday, May 7, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District board meeting that will take place in Malibu.
The board of education is also expected to vote on the latest version of a plan to increase parking on the campus, which could potentially include a 150-space parking lot on the bluff behind the football field, necessitating the relocation of the existing equestrian easement and coastal sage scrub habitat replacement, as well as ramps and stairs to access the lot and the installation of new fencing to “secure the perimeter of campus.” A presentation on the revised parking plan will be presented at the meeting.
An on-site wastewater treatment system facility with an access road is being proposed for the area north of the new parking lot. Additional funding for septic system work and monitoring for MHS and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School is also on the agenda, as are plans to bring the campus water supply system up to current fire safety standards. Planned improvements will “ensure a minimum of two hours of adequate water flow to fire hydrants serving the Cabrillo and Malibu campuses.”
A discussion is also expected on the recently disclosed revelation that the Morning View Drive right of way actually consists of 55 feet, rather than the 50 feet that the district’s consultants have used to design MHS’s proposed new front entrance, library and administration buildings.
At the board meeting of March 5, the MHS Measure BB improvements construction budget was increased to $31,985,000 with the addition of funding for improvements to the OWTS.
At that time, an additional $4,278,000 was under consideration for traffic, parking and safety related improvements. Staff is now recommending that the board approve a smaller budget increase for those issues of $2,459,000, bringing the total construction budget for the Measure BB Malibu Middle and High School Campus Improvements Project to $34,444,000.
Advocates of MHS’s field lighting plan are concerned that each additional expense incurred during the BB planning process could mean that the chances for approval of permanent nighttime athletic events at the campus are reduced. The controversial lighting plan is an “add alternative” that can be funded only after “core” projects are completed.
The board will receive an update on the status of the lighting of the athletic field at Malibu High School. The district is facing two critical legal issues on this matter: the campus’s current Coastal Development Permit, issued to the district by the California Coastal Commission, contains a special condition prohibiting athletic field night lighting at the campus; and lighting of this type is also prohibited by the City of Malibu’s Local Coastal Plan.
For several years, the school has used unpermitted temporary portable lighting for what the district estimates has been, on average, 10 days per year during the fall and winter months. The district plans to seek an amendment to the campus’s CDP to permit temporary lights for the 2009-10 football season.
On Feb. 5, the board authorized the preparation of an amendment application to the CCC. It had been anticipated that the application would be presented at the May 7 meeting. However, the agenda states only that a “mitigated negative declaration is currently being prepared by CAA Planning, Inc. and “should be ready for publication in May.” Even if the temporary lighting amendment is not yet complete, the board is expected to approve plans to continue pursing the permanent lighting plan.
The public portion of the board of education meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m., in the council chambers at Malibu City Hall. The agenda is available at the district Web site: www.smmusd.org