City Begins Massive Transformation of Trancas Park Site

• Judge Refuses to Issue Temporary Restraining Order Sought by Malibu Township Council

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu Township Council, with a fresh infusion of cash from the Malibu West Homeowners Association, went to court this week in an attempt to stop the bulldozers at Trancas Canyon Park.
“Yesterday we went into court ex parte. The judge ordered the city to show cause why he should not issue a preliminary injunction,” said Frank Angel, who represents the MTC. “But he did not issue a temporary restraining order [to stop work immediately]. He set Dec. 14 for the hearing date.”
City Attorney Christi Hogin was not available for comment. She was not in her office and will not return until Oct. 26.
Angel acknowledged at the rate the grading and landform alteration is proceeding, the bulldozing work could be done by the preliminary hearing date.
Heavy equipment resumed work, after the rains last week, and moved up onto the flat mesa area where the dog park is planned and began scraping soil off the top and moving it down for fill, according to the city’s Public Works Superintendent Richard Calvin.
He added the contractor is on track for the 30-day timing allotted for the grading and said that no slide work or remedial grading is underway.
Angel said the city’s agreement with the contractor calls for 30 days of grading.
“That is a problem for us. That is why we can’t wait. We need to go to the appellate court, but I have to get the green light from my client,” he said.
The MTC attorney said he believes the city is taking enormous risks in proceeding with the grading given the evidence he has uncovered.
He indicated the decision about the status of an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area, which was exempted based on a previous California Coastal Commission permit, is incorrect.
“That is factually in error. That is for another parcel, a different 10-acre lot with another parcel number,” he said.
Angel said he has been speaking to a “high level Coastal Commission official” who told him a dog park would never be allowed in an ESHA.
After a status conference last week, a trial date was set for Feb. 2, 2010, for the litigation in which MTC is challenging the city’s approvals and alleges California Environmental Quality Agency violations.