Coastal Staff Proposes $750,000 for Mitigation of Malibu Bluffs Project

• Five-Home Subdivision Packages a Two-Acre Ball Field

BY BILL KOENEKER

The California Coastal Commission staff has recommended that a 24-acre bluff top parcel historically known as Crummer Field could be developed with a five-home subdivision and a public ball field, but only if the developer kicks in $750,000 as a mitigation fee. The matter is scheduled for the commission’s January meeting in Huntington Beach.
The land is currently zoned commercial visitor-serving and coastal planners believe such valuable zoning, if retired, should have offsets to compensate.
“The mitigation fee shall be for the protection, enhancement and provision of lower-cost visitor-serving uses elsewhere along the coast…to offset the loss of the priority land use in the city,” the staff report concludes, having already asserted that commercial visitor-serving zoning has a high priority with Coastal Commission policy.
The request is to be heard in the form of a Local Coastal Program Amendment, which seeks to modify the requirements of the planned development land use designation of the LCP to allow for a mix of residential and recreational use, instead of commercial visitor-serving use, the current designation on the vacant parcel adjacent to Bluffs Park.
The owner of the site, Richard Ackerman, approached the city several years ago about subdividing the parcel into eight new lots and developing the site with five new single-family residences with a private road in the eastern portion of the property and dedicate the westernmost two-acres of the site to the city, to expand the adjacent city-owned park with an additional baseball field and 35 parking spaces.
An Environmental Impact Report was completed and the city and developer have approached the commission with the LCPA.
There has been a back and forth between the developer and the commission staff about the mitigation fee.
“The commission staff has identified potential public projects in the area that are in need of funding to implement affordable visitor-serving accommodations, such as the former Topanga Ranch Motel owned by the state, which is considering rehabilitation,” the CCC staff report states.
“The property owner has submitted a study to commission lower cost overnight accommodations serving the City of Malibu and its vicinity. The study asserts that commercial offerings in Malibu generally cater to more affluent visitor/consumers rather than visitors seeking low cost overnight accommodations, due in part to the high cost of land in Malibu, which is a major obstacle to constructing new low cost overnight accommodations,” the commission report goes on.
The property owner insisted that there is ample inventory of low-cost overnight accommodations in the greater Malibu vicinity and also notes State Parks and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy are developing plans to bring more low-cost overnight opportunities to the coastal area, including at the nearby Bluffs Park.
However, the CCC staff counters the proposed LCPA would result in the loss of land currently designated for visitor-serving commercial recreational opportunities. “Specifically, the request is inconsistent with [coastal policies]. Therefore, the amendment must be denied as submitted. In order for the proposed land use conversion from commercial visitor-serving to residential/ recreational to be found consistent with the Coastal Act, it must be appropriately mitigated since the proposed land use change would allow for residential development on the subject property, which is not a priority use. Ideally, the loss of area designated for commercial visitor-serving use should be offset by re-designating some other equivalent area that would be designated for visitor serving use. As an alternative, the property owner has offered to pay an in-lieu mitigation fee of $750,000 to assist funding affordable overnight accommodations elsewhere in the coastal zone.”
The report notes the CCC staff modification would require the city to add a new land use plan policy to require payment of the $750,000 prior to issuance of permits and the fee would be used to fund new local public access by rehabilitating the Topanga Ranch Motel.