Malibu Surfside News

City of Malibu Proposes Eleventh Hour Alternate Wastewater Treatment Plan

2009-11-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

• Would Cost $400-$500 a Month—Same as Revised Lower Cost Estimates for RWQCB Zone Proposal

BY ANNE SOBLE

In an effort to forestall imposition of a Regional Water Quality Control Board prohibition on future septic tank use and stringent curbs on existing systems at its hearing this week, the City of Malibu has come up with a last-minute alternative that it hopes will counter the arguments of surfing and environmental organizations and buy the municipality a reprieve, if not time.
The city proposal plan is described as a more decentralized approach that wold be less costly to construct, but would cost the same for upkeep and have comparable monthly costs for property owners as the larger RWQCB proposal.
However, the city construction proposal, which could cost half of the price of the larger project, would only cover one-fourth of the residences and little more than half of the business parcels that the larger project would encompass. See tables below for city’s own comparative numbers.
Still unanswered is how the other parcels deemed in need of improved wastewater management by the water quality panel might be included, as well as year-round aspects of treated effluent disposition.
The city initiated a public relations blitz for the plan on Tuesday in the hope that the publicity would balance the attention being generated by Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay and other organizations actively lobbying the regional board to implement the staff push for the ban and curbs.
Announcing the package, Mayor Andy Stern said, “The City of Malibu is committed to working collaboratively with the regional board, local property owners and all stakeholders to find an achievable and effective solution. A more targeted wastewater treatment facility will accomplish the goals we all share of protecting public health and improving ocean water quality while also ensuring prudent use of taxpayer funds.”
The RWQCB calls for a consolidated project—a single wastewater treatment facility capable of treating 600,000 gallons per day. The city contends that the available percolation area may not be sufficient to disperse the large quantity of treated wastewater that plan requires.
The city’s alternative plan proposes a smaller wastewater treatment facility that would handle up to 240,000 gallons per day and be constructed in phases: Phase 1 for the commercial properties in the Civic Center area; and Phase 2 for the residential areas in Serra Retreat. The plan also calls for disinfection systems at three key beach zones.
In Phase I, a wastewater treatment system (capable of treating 190,000 gallons per day) would be constructed “for the central core of the Civic Center area where the commercial properties and the highest potential users of a new wastewater treatment system are located. These properties also are in close proximity to Malibu Creek.”
In Phase II, the system would be expanded (adding 50,000 gallons per day) to take in “Serra Retreat, where residential properties have a potential to impact water quality in Malibu Creek.”
Malibu Colony homes and two commercial zones along the east side of Malibu Creek and adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway would be required by city ordinance to “install disinfection treatment to their existing septic systems.” The city currently requires property owners adding new sinks, toilets, showers, etc. to add disinfection. City data states approximately 10 to 20 percent of Malibu Colony homes already have advanced treatment systems that include disinfection.
Under the city’s proposed implementation schedule, Phase I of the alternate plan would be completed and operating by April 2015 and Phase II would be operating by 2018. All disinfection systems would have to be installed and operating by 2018.
Stern said, “The city’s proposal will effectively address water quality concerns, and it includes a reasonable implementation schedule that will meet the goals set by the regional board and the city, We believe this framework establishes an achievable solution and we look forward to presenting our plan to the regional board and stakeholders on Nov. 5.”
In the course of developing its alternate proposal, the city announcement stated it “also continued to refine and update its conceptual cost estimates of the larger wastewater treatment system proposed by the regional board, as well as the city’s new plan. By separating out the costs for commercial properties, the city was able to estimate the cost per residential property owner more accurately and found it would be less than previously estimated,: in fact, it is the same as the city’s proposal.”

CITY DATA
Regional Board
Prohibition Zone

425 residential parcels; 45 business parcels: Construction, $52 million; Business Monthly Cost, $6800–$17,000 (based on 10,000 - 25,000 gpd user); Resident Monthly Cost, $400 – $500.

City of Malibu
Alternate Plan

110 residential parcels; 25 business parcels: Construction, $30.8 million; Business Monthly Cost, $6,800 – $17,000 (based on 10,000 - 25,000 gpd user); Resident Monthly Cost. $400 – $500.
City staff stresses that all estimates are preliminary and likely to “vary as more information becomes available.” The city adds “cost estimates do not include the cost of acquiring land for the wastewater treatment facility or its dispersal fields, a price tag that is likely to further increase the overall cost of the system.” The estimates were prepared by the RMC Water and Environment engineering firm.
The city bases its argument on the premise that “emerging data and scientific studies are strongly supporting the long-held belief that cleaning up stormwater and urban runoff should be the highest priority for improving water quality and protecting public health—rather than banning existing septic systems.” However, this will be countered by vocal; and likely large numbers of proponents of the board proposal at this week’s hearing.
While the city states. “Five new studies on ocean water quality and bacteria levels are expected to be completed in the next six to nine months [and] these studies will provide significant findings to help guide the city and regional board and ensure their actions will improve water quality and protect the public’s health,” these groups have mounted a powerful “Clean Water at the Bu” campaign that flooded Malibu mailboxes this week and will resonate at the Thursday hearing.

Showdown Is Expected between Ocean Enviros and Fishing Interests as Marine Life Protection Task Force Reconvenes

2009-11-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

• Decision on Point Dume Is Among Most Contentious

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

In what is anticipated to be a showdown between conservation and fishing interests, the Blue Ribbon Task Force for the Marine Life Protection Act Initiative South Coast Study Region will reconvene on Nov. 10 in Los Angeles to complete the final round of the stakeholder process. Point Dume remains at the center of the maelstrom of debate.
The BRTF was scheduled to make its final decisions in October, but the five-member panel postponed the vote after a three-day marathon of testimony from members of the official stakeholder groups, conservationists, fishing interests and the Science Advisory Team.
The meeting became a verbal tug of war between environmentalists and fishing proponents over Point Dume and Palos Verdes, the opposite ends of the Santa Monica Bay. More than 40 Malibu residents made the pilgrimage to support the creation of Marine Protected Area at Point Dume. Members of the local kayak and spearfishing community were also present, to oppose plans to put Point Dume off limits for fishing.
During the South Coast Study Region process, stakeholder groups, working with the official Science Advisory Team developed a series of proposals, or arrays. Each of the three rounds refined and consolidated the proposals until only three were left. The BRTF is charged with selecting the preferred alternative that will be submitted to the Department of Fish and Game, the agency that oversees the MPLAI.
The BRTF passed a resolution at the October meeting to send all three stakeholder work group proposals to the DFG, but they also began the process of constructing a new proposal, cobbled together using elements of Proposal 1, viewed as a compromise between conservation and utilization proponents, and Proposal 2, favored by the fishing community.
The move has been viewed as a victory for fishing interests. Commercial and recreational fishing proponents have lobbied heavily against Proposal 3, the proposal that offers the highest level of protection and most effectively meets the science guidelines, but would also would place a higher number of popular destinations off limits for fishing.
At the October meeting, the BRTF appeared to be leaning toward applying Proposal 2 to Palos Verdes, and Proposal 1 to Point Dume, but with changes. Proposal 1 incorporates a State Marine Reserve, the highest level of protection, from east of the Paradise Cove Pier to Point Dume, and a State Marine Conservation Area, which limits fishing to certain species, from Westward Beach to Lechusa.
At the October meeting, Task force member Meg Caldwell proposed moving the boundary of the proposed Point Dume SMR west of the Paradise Cove pier, leaving a hotly contested submarine canyon and Big Kelp Reef open to fishing, and pushing the western boundary of the SMCA slightly further west to capture a larger area of persistent kelp.
Proposal 1 stakeholder group member Sarah Sikich was concerned by the suggestion. Sikich, a Malibuite, told the Malibu Surfside News in an interview after the meeting that in her view, the modified plan will not meet the science guidelines. “Proposal 1 was already a compromise,” Sikich said. “Without protection for the canyon, the SMR will not be effective.”
“[When we developed the proposal] we made sure that we left Escondido [a popular kayak launch site] open. Kayakers still have access to the BKR but critical habitat [in the submarine canyon] would have at least some protection,” Sikich said. “Without that, it isn’t going to work.”
On Oct. 9, the SAT will meet via teleconference to review the BRTF’s options. The meeting can be viewed live online. On Nov. 10, the BRTF will meet at 9:30 a.m. at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, 6101 West Century Blvd., LA. Public participation is encouraged. More information on both meetings, including links to the live video feed, is available at www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa

Council Member Issues Call for A-Listers to Help Record City Production

2009-11-04T16:42:00.000-08:00

• Colleagues Give 10 Days to Set Up

Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich looked into the camera at last week’s quarterly council meeting and asked, “Barbra, are you listening,” which prompted Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Barovsky to say to no one in particular, “I doubt she’s on Channel 3.”
Undaunted, Conley Ulich said perhaps Barbra Streisand, Bob Dylan and other local musical icons would be willing to step forward and show their commitment to the environment by participating in a kind of “We Are the People” of Malibu recording project the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 27, to try to “make a million dollars” for Legacy Park.
An unenthused Barovsky said setting up the recording studio at the new city hall would cost a minimum of $10,000, and the council shouldn’t authorize the expenditure “without better planning and knowing whether anyone will even show up.”
In a post meeting announcement, Conley Ulich broadened the objective of the recording session to helping the ocean. She said, “The ‘plastic garbage patch’ in the Pacific Ocean has grown to about double size of Texas according to scientists last month.” She wants to get the word to “local musical A-listers” that “with [their] help, the City of Malibu can raise awareness and funds to combat ocean pollution. We have banned plastic bags, cigarettes on the beach, supported getting a Marine Protected Area, and begun building Legacy Park in Malibu, but we need to engage the world in our crusade to combat ocean pollution.”
The council member said, “The City of Malibu recently purchased the Malibu Performing Arts center where talent such as Tom Petty and Sting have performed and recorded, [and I have] 10 days to try to get a commitment from Malibu’s most talented musicians to come together the day after Thanksgiving to record a song in our new City Hall, which will be heard around the world.”
She told the local entertainment community at large, “You are blessed with talent. You have and can use that gift to draw attention to this issue and raise funds to continue our clean water efforts. I know you are busy; I know your plates are [full]; I know you have other commitments; [All we ask is] 10 minutes you could carve away from your time.”

Other Cities Veer Toward Cat Declawing Bans While Malibu Appears Poised Not to Do So

2009-11-04T16:41:00.001-08:00

Santa Monica, San Francisco, Beverly Hills, Los Angeles and other municipalities all appear headed toward approving a ban on cat declawing, described by its critics as forced amputation that results in ongoing pain, but Malibu appears to have bowed to veterinary pressures and council members declawing of their own pets and will not be one of them when it revisits the matter on Nov. 9.
The issue is of immediate interest because successful industry lobbying has resulted in a state law that will prevent cities and counties from passing ordinances banning such procedures, much as local governments were precluded from regulating rehab facilities.
Supporters of the bans took their case this week to L. A. City Council hearings where Councilmembers Bill Rosendahl and Paul Koretz spearheaded the argument that declawing means “unnecessary pain, anguish and permanent disability” for cats.
“Anyone who cannot handle the claws of a cat should not have a cat to begin with,” said Rosendahl, a cat owner. Other testimony said people who don’t understand feline anatomy and psychology would “be better off with a stuffed toy.”
Declawing critics maintain that “part of felinity is the stretching and extension of claws [and they think that] declawed animals have not just been crippled, they lose their identity.”
The city of West Hollywood already has a ban on declawing.

Malibu Presbyterian ‘Returns Home’ with Bonds Made Stronger after Trial by Fire

2009-11-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

• Church Community Celebrates Services on Nov. 8

Members of the Malibu Presbyterian Church say they always celebrated the specialness of their communal bonds, but they could never have envisioned understanding the precept that “a church is not a building” as clearly as they would when their church was reduced to rubble and ashes after the Malibu Canyon wildfire in 2007.
Without an edifice, church members looked to one another for a sense of identity not only as a church community but in the Malibu community at large and learned that “being a church without a home” can be as strong if not stronger as any church can be.
This Sunday, Malibu Presbyterian Church returns home, rising from the ashes in an action that is celebrated by all who acknowledge the role of faith in their lives. The first services will be held at 9:30 a.m. and 11:11.a.m.
While the church prepares to return to the white tent on the hill, it announced that “it will celebrate 60 years of service and life with new-found insight into what it means to be a people of God. As anyone who has been touched by adversity knows, the church is not the same as it was two years ago.”
“We all experience pain, hardship and loss in this life,” says Senior Pastor Greg Hughes. “But in every trial there is an opportunity, a blessing to seize. Just as fire refines gold and strengthens metal, so too has our church family been enriched by the loss of our buildings. Athletes are heard to say, ‘No pain, no gain.’ I’d like to say it a little differently for Malibu Pres, ‘Burned down, but fired up!’”
Hughes adds, “We could have fractured under the strain and stress of our loss, but it brought our congregation together with greater purpose and resolve. Our love for one another has increased and our commitment has grown to leave a lasting legacy, as the Christmas carol goes, of ‘peace on earth and good will towards men.’ We are a resurrection people, like Christ, we can’t stay down.”
Hughes says that rather than focusing on its own loss, the church focused on the needs of others. Three weeks after losing their own building, members built homes in Baja, Mexico for impoverished families. Two months after the fire, members of Malibu Pres came alongside devastated home-owners in the second 2007 fire in Latigo and Corral Canyons, praying with them as they measured the extent of their own loss to fire.
The church, Hughes says, not only embraced the community, but the community embraced the church.
“For the last two years, Malibu Presbyterian became more integrated into the community. They held weekly services at Webster Elementary, fathers danced with their daughters at the annual Father-Daughter Valentine Dance at the Malibu Inn and Bible studies met in private homes. The Malibu Pres Preschool was graciously offered a home at the Malibu Jewish Center for eight months until a temporary preschool was built.”
“Now that we are ‘going home,’ the real challenge begins,” member Michael Guillen said. “We must not become comfortable and grow apathetic; not allow materialism to pass for meaning; but instead, we must always remember that the focus of the Gospel is on people, not on bricks and mortar.”
Pastor Hughes adds, “We have a new base camp. And we pray it will not only glorify God but will continue to serve our families and our wonderful community. It’s only a means to an end. We are a blessed people. We are a thankful people. And we couldn’t be more excited.”

MALIBU PRESBYTERIAN SERVICE INFORMATION
Weekly Services:
9:30 a.m. & 11:11 a.m.
University Ministry Service:
8:30 p.m. Tuesdays
3324 Malibu Canyon Road
Other activities and information can be found at www.malibupres.org.

City Council Moves to End Ban on Institutional Night Lights

2009-11-04T16:36:00.000-08:00

• Law May Not Be Able to Be Written So Narrowly that It Precludes Illumination in Other Settings

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Malibu City Council will consider passing a resolution of intent to investigate zoning text Local Coastal Program amendments to remove a prohibition on athletic field lighting in areas zoned institutional at its meeting on Nov. 9.
According to a staff report, “On Oct. 12, 2009, the City Council directed staff to begin preparation of a ZTA and LCPA to incorporate new development standards for the institutional zoning district and update existing permitted and conditionally permitted uses within that zone.”
Last month, a Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District request for an LCP amendment to permit limited use of temporary lights at Malibu High School for football season was unanimously rejected by the California Coastal Commission.
The temporary lighting plan presented to the commission last month included a maximum of 16 nights—eight football practices and eight games. The original MHS field lighting plan, unveiled by the district in 2008 as part of the campus’s Measure BB funded improvements, included artificial turf and permanent athletic field lighting that could potentially be in use 200+ nights a year. The plan instantly generated an outpouring of opposition.
Rather than appeal the commission’s decision, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District is instead opting to work with the City of Malibu to attempt to amend the city’s LCP. The board of education voted last month to remove the permanent lighting plan from the Measure BB plan, but only “at this time.”
“Continuing to move ahead with football lighting as part of BB would not be cost effective for the program at this time because of the LCP,” Chief financial officer Jan Maez stated after the board’s decision, adding that “it gives us the hope that in the future when the CDP is amended, the school community could come back and reconsider some kind of lighting of the field, whether it’s temporary for 16 nights, or for other athletic purposes or even in the larger community.”
The deadline to file for Coastal Commission reconsideration is Nov. 6. However, district staff has reportedly decided that an appeal to the coastal agency is unlikely to succeed, and that the process could cost in excess of $50,000, in addition to the more than $100,000 in general funds already spent on biology reports and lobbying services for the original amendment application. The district is currently facing a $12-15 million deficit.
Critics of the lighting plan are calling the district’s decision to rely on the city ironic, because the board of education voted unanimously on July 1 to pass a special resolution that declared the school was not subject to Malibu’s zoning ordinances. The district used the resolution to bypass city authority and go directly to the California Coastal Commission with its request for an LCP amendment.
According to the staff report, existing city code for industrial zoning—which includes religious institutions, private and public educational institutions, and outdoor activities and facilities such as sporting events and farmers markets—provides “general institutional requirements for setbacks, height and floor area ratio. [However], “all remaining components default to the residential development standards, including grading, impermeable coverage, fencing and accessory structures/ uses.”
The staff report also states that the “current set of permitted and conditionally permitted uses within the institutional zone are limited and inadequately regulate the scope of existing and potential uses within this zoning district.
“By incorporating new development standards and updating the list of permitted and conditionally permitted uses within the Institutional zone,” staff anticipates “an improvement in the planning review process, better regulation governing complex institutional projects and transparent guidelines for applicants to follow during project design.”
While the amendments to zoning and the LCP would technically permit the lights, the city and the district would still have to overcome several additional hurdles. The proposed temporary lights would exceed existing building code restrictions for height, brightness and environmental impact.
The Coastal Commission blasted both the district and its own staff for inadequate and inaccurate environmental review and for underestimating the potential negative impact of light pollution in an area of Malibu that is still largely rural and surrounded by public lands and beaches. Coastal Commissioner and Malibu resident Sara Wan stated when the lighting request was denied that removing the prohibition in the LCP would be “opening a can of worms.”
Athletic program supporters say that, if the LCP and zoning amendments are successful, it could open the door for field lighting not only at the high school campus but also potentially at the district’s Point Dume and Webster campuses, and other institutional-zoned areas, enabling development of playing fields and other nighttime facilities in the community.
If the city council votes to approve the resolution, staff will prepare the draft amendments for consideration. The amendments will then be presented to the Zoning Ordinance Revisions and Code Enforcement Subcommittee for review and recommendation, and from there they would go to a public hearing at the planning commission. If the planning commission approves the amendments, they will be submitted to the California Coastal Commission for processing.

Mitrice Richardson’s Family Continues to Ask for Videotapes that Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station Captain Says Do Not Exist

2009-11-04T16:34:00.000-08:00

• City Approves $15,000 Reward for Arrest and Conviction of Those Responsible for 24-Year-Old’s Disappearance

BY ANNE SOBLE

Tensions are rapidly mounting in what has become volleys of charges and accusations by family and friends of Mitrice Richardson, the 24-year-old woman who disappeared after being released without money, cell phone or means of transportation from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station at 12.25 a.m. on Sept. 17.
Richardson was placed under citizen’s arrest by the manager of Geoffrey’s restaurant after not paying an $89.51 dinner tab. When Lost Hills deputies arrived to transport her to the station for booking, they asked if they could search her car and found less than an ounce of marijuana.
She was then booked at Lost Hills on the misdemeanor counts of defrauding an innkeeper and “possession” and was released on her own recognizance. Because staff at the restaurant described Richardson’s actions as “crazy,” the family says the deputies were remiss in not ordering that she be placed on a “5150,” or medical hold, and taken to a hospital for psychological evaluation.
The intensity of family criticism has crescendoed in recent weeks with the woman’s father, Michael Richardson, blasting the sheriff’s department; the Los Angeles Police Department, the lead investigative agency; the City of Malibu; and Malibu elected officials, with a laundry list of alleged shortcomings.
This criticism, even when made to non-mainstream media, becomes instant online fodder and reverberates around the Web. Some other family members are concerned that the attacks could impede rather than help the investigation.
Simultaneously, scenarios running the gamut from “Richardson never left the sheriff’s station at all (or alive)” to the theory that her “disappearance is a carefully crafted hoax that was planned weeks in advance” whirl indiscriminately in a cacophony bordering on the frenetic. The only universal thread in the rumor mill is disbelief that someone could disappear completely.
All wings of the family of the Cal State Fullerton honors grad who planned on completing a doctorate in psychology are vocal in their determination to keep the public spotlight on the missing woman.
Gatherings in South Los Angeles and Malibu on Sunday included family members, friends and total strangers who say they have been touched by the media coverage.
In Malibu, Richardson’s mother Latice Sutton, her aunt Lauren Sutton and her college mentor clinical psychologist Ronda Hampton reiterated the family’s ongoing call for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to get involved in the case.
Latice Sutton asked why when a white student disappeared in Virginia last week under comparable circumstances, the FBI was called right in. As the lead agency in the investigation, it is up to the Los Angeles Police Department to issue a request for FBI involvement. According to Detective Chuck Knolls, who is heading up the LAPD efforts, the FBI has not been asked to become involved because “there is no evidence of criminality.”
Richardson’s mother replies that “if a young woman who may be in a troubled mental state and has been missing for seven weeks is not criminality, it’s difficult to understand what is.”
VIDEOTAPES
Latice Sutton reiterated the allegation being made extensively in print and broadcast media that the sheriff’s department is withholding videotapes they have of Mitrice Richardson from the family.
But Capt. Tom Martin, the commander at Lost Hills, told the Malibu Surfside News this week:
“First, I can’t imagine how videotapes from the station, if they existed, would help find the missing person. The family asked for perimeter videotapes of the station that would show Mitrice leaving after being released from jail. We have no such tapes. We have cameras mounted at strategic points around the station which feed to monitors at the desk; however, they are live feed and don’t videotape.”
Martin is aware that Lost Hills is being slammed repeatedly by family members, especially Richardson’s father, and this is being picked up on blogs, talk radio and, increasingly, mainstream media.
The Lost Hills commander said, “We have reviewed our policy and procedures to ensure that we followed them appropriately in the release of Mitrice Richardson. The Office of Independent Review (OIR) has reviewed the arrest and release of Mitrice Richardson to ensure we followed policy.”
Martin added that “sheriff’s department executives have reviewed the case to ensure we followed appropriate procedures. The Board of Supervisors will be reviewing the release of Mitrice Richardson to ensure we acted appropriately.”
That review was requested by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last month, when it posted a $10,000 reward for “information leading to [Mitrice Richardson’s] whereabouts”—broader wording than allowed under City of Malibu law related to rewards.
Capt. Martin added, “My focus is and has always been finding Mitrice Richardson and bringing her home safely, in addition to ensuring that my personnel completed their jobs appropriately,” and he voiced criticism of news coverage that he said appeared to “smear” the sheriff’s department.
FEDERAL INVESTIGATION
But the drumbeat of criticism is not expected to let up. An online activist group whose concerns include criminal justice—change.org—has posted a petition urging California officials, including the governor, the state attorney general, a cross-section of legislators, as well as the U.S. attorney general and dozens of other officials to initiate a federal investigation of the Richardson case.
At press time, there were 1602 signatures toward a goal of 5000 to urge the Feds to “help find Richardson” and “to ensure that this does not happen to additional persons.” The petition is at the group’s website: www.change.org
GLBT OUTREACH
Yet another push of family members and friends includes increased outreach to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community in Los Angeles.
Richardson is openly gay and concern has been voiced that this, in addition to race and gender, are possible components in her alleged negligent treatment and the tenor of the law enforcement investigation.
Richardson’s partner of two years, Tessa Moon, also a CSF graduate, is now embarked on a major media blitz, issuing appeals for assistance in helping to find the missing woman.
Information about Richardson can be directed to www.findmitrice.info or to: Michael Richardson at 310-283-4717, Dr. Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, or LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls at 213-485-2531.

Mayoralty Rotates at Next Council Meeting

2009-11-04T16:33:00.000-08:00

The Malibu City Council will hold its next scheduled public meeting on Monday, Nov. 9 at 6:30 p.m. at city hall.
The first orders of business will include a proclamation declaring November, 2009 as National Family Caregivers Month in the City of Malibu, the naming of certificate recipients of the Clean Bay Restaurant Program and a presentation of a Certificate of Recognition to Jim Palmer of Malibu Vineyards.
Also on the agenda will be the “changing of the guards” on Malibu City council: Sharon Barovsky will become the city’s new mayor and Jefferson Wagner will become mayor pro tem. Because Malibu does not elect a mayor separately, the city’s mayorship is rotated by an electoral formula devised by the city council several years ago so that each member of the council serves as mayor.
There will also be several resolutions on the agenda, including one opposing the declawing of cats in the City of Malibu, a resolution of intent to initiate a zoning text amendment regarding institutional zoning district development standards, permitted and conditionally permitted uses, one supporting the West Basin Municipal Water District’s Water Reliability 2020 Program, and an adoption of the resolution supporting the Los Angeles County single-use bag reduction and recycling program.
The council will also hear an appeal of the planning commission’s denial of a conditional use permit and variance for the operation of a medical marijuana dispensary at 21355 Pacific Coast Highway, as well as an ordinance creating landscape water conservation standards.

Water Board Meeting on Proposed Septic Ban Is Planning Benchmark

2009-10-28T16:46:00.000-07:00

• RWQCB Staff Removes ‘Zero Waste’ Discharge Exemption

BY BILL KOENEKER

The showdown between Malibu city officials and environmentalists before the Regional Water Quality Control Board on Nov. 5, when the water board may decide the fate of the Civic Center and surrounding residential communities in the form of a septic system prohibition, is fast approaching.
One of the most important changes made to the latest draft document, according to an Oct. 27 update, is that the proposed exemption for ‘zero waste’ discharges has been removed.
The RWQCB staff released a memo this week on the response to the documents issued by the state regulatory agency. “Staff has posted 46 comment letters received on or before Oct. 8,” states the memo.
However, the memo reveals there are over 600 pages of comments. “They have been divided into five categories for downloading: GOV, NGOs, WDR Dischargers, Other Dischargers, Other,” the memo states.
“Staff has revised the technical staff report in response to comments from the public [and] from peer reviews. None of the revisions change the results or conclusions in the technical staff report,” an update states.
The update indicates the staff’s response to the comments will be posted before the board meeting sometime next week.
The memo also acknowledges there have been more revisions to the draft resolution and technical staff reports, including five tech memos.
On Nov. 5, the regional board will consider a proposal to prohibit onsite wastewater disposal systems in the Malibu Civic Center area. The proposed prohibition will not allow new septic systems or septic discharge immediately upon its adoption and prohibits further discharge from existing dischargers in five years. The prohibition applies to all dischargers in the Civic Center area, including commercial and industrial facilities, public facilities and residences.
The RWQCB conducted two workshops in September and October. The public can once again give oral testimony at the hearing on Nov. 5.
Malibu city officials are encouraging residents to attend the meeting by offering free bus service. There are about 15 riders signed up and more are expected, according to Assistant City Manager and Administrative Services Director Reva Feldman, who said the city would accommodate all riders. The bus leaves City Hall at 7:30 a.m.
The hearing starts at 9 a.m. There are two uncontested agenda items before the Malibu agenda item.
The actual agenda item reads: “Consideration of an amendment to the Bain Plan to prohibit discharge from onsite wastewater disposal systems in the Malibu Civic Center area (including Malibu Valley and surrounding hillsides, Winter Canyon and surrounding hillsides and the coastal strips along the Pacific Coast Highway between and including Surfrider Beach and Amarillo Beach.”
Staff will be posting future updates and revisions on the RWQCB Malibu Prohibition web page at this link:www.waterboards.ca.gov/losangeles/press room/announcements/Public-Hearing-Malibu/index.shtml.

Sheriff’s Department Sends Three Felony Charges for City Employee to DA’s Office

2009-10-28T16:44:00.000-07:00

• Records Clerk Allegedly DUI in Fatal PCH Hit-and-Run

BY BILL KOENEKER

After a lengthy investigation, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department submitted three felony charges to the District Attorney’s office last week against Robert Sanchez, 29, of Santa Monica.
Sanchez is accused of fatally hitting Rodrigo Armas, 45, of Tehachapi on June 28 at 1:20 a.m. as Armas was bicycling on Pacific Coast Highway, according to authorities.
Sanchez is charged with one felony count of vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated that, if he is convicted, could result in up to four years in state prison. He is also charged with driving under the influence and fatal hit and run, according to an email from Traffic Sergeant Phil Brooks of the Malibu/Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station.
Sanchez is accused of hitting two cyclists on PCH who were participating in an annual organized bicycle ride.
Sanchez, who was allegedly driving under the influence, struck the pair, then he reportedly fled the scene of the accident and was later picked up and taken into custody.
Sanchez, who is employed by the City of Malibu as a records clerk, was reportedly driving along the 34000 block of PCH near Nicholas Canyon when he allegedly crossed over the fog line and struck Armas, a Los Angeles County deputy probation officer, who died at the scene.
Also hit was Armas’ son Christian, 14, who suffered serious leg injuries requiring hospitalization.
Armas is survived by his wife, the injured son and two daughters, ages 9 and 12, according to a sheriff’s department press release.
Authorities allege Sanchez left the scene of the accident and continued along PCH for a short distance, before he abandoned his vehicle and hid in the brush.
Sanchez was found about two hours later by sheriff’s deputies, who arrested him and took him into custody.

Council Punts on Push to Change Its Meeting Night

2009-10-28T16:32:00.000-07:00

• 2010 Members Will Get to Decide

BY BILL KOENEKER

An attempt to change the day of the Malibu City Council meeting from Monday to Tuesday was put on hold this week, when a majority of the council agreed to allow the newly formed council in April to decide.
“I withdraw the motion,” said Councilmember Sharon Barovsky, when she realized she did not have three votes for the proposal.
The two-week-old proposal had been debated in the local press and some of the council members characterized the argument as the needs of the staff versus the needs of the local media.
City Manager Jim Thorsen said it was a good change that would help the staff and the city would profit from it. Other staffers and department heads also voiced support for the proposed change.
Barovsky said the local media’s perceived aversion to the change had more to do with the newspaper business model than getting the information out in a timely manner.
The council member also noted there were other media where people interested in the business of the city could turn for “unfiltered” news of the city. “
Barovsky added that she was surprised by how asking for a discussion of the proposal “irritated everybody.
She also insisted she had not talked to Joan House about the matter, as the meeting day of the city planning commission was changed to Tuesday to accommodate House when she was tapped to serve on the panel. There is speculation that House may run again for a council seat and if she is elected, she will not want to meet on Monday nights for reasons that have reportedly never been made public, although some have asked what is so important that it trumps municipal scheduling.
Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich brushed aside the argument that having extra time on Monday would allow the staff and council members to respond to eleventh-hour correspondence. “The stuff will come up on Tuesday. I don’t see a compelling argument. What is more important?” asked Conley Ulich, who said if the argument was characterized as the needs of the staff versus the needs of the press, “I don’t see that tipping [the scale].”
Conley Ulich then noted she had talked to Joan House. “I did talk to her about this,” she said. Conley Ulich added she thought the most compelling reason for not doing anything was that the proposal had come up so close to the election in April.
“Let’s look at this after the election. If somebody can’t meet on Monday, then they can switch it to Tuesday,” she said.
Councilmember Jefferson Wagner said he saw no reason to change the meeting day and said he wanted kept the way it is.
Councilmember John Sibert, who would have become the swing vote, said, “I am reluctant to support the change now. After the election, let that city council make the decision. Leave it the way it is.”
Earlier in the evening, without discussion, the council approved a $67,000 contract with Fiona Hutton & Associates, a public relations firm to provide consulting services and press releases.
They initially entered into an agreement with Hutton in July, 2009 and the agreement is an extension of the contract.
The public relations firm has written a number of news releases for the city about the hot button items including Legacy Park, water quality programs and other issues.
Hutton has outlined a plan for how the city needs to tell its side of the story such as pending legal battle over Legacy Park and the ongoing struggle with the Regional Water Quality Control Board.
In other action, the council agreed to put off having the city manager sign a new agreement with Los Angeles County for animal care and control services.
Some council members said they had gotten calls from Sherman Baylin who had asked for the continuance. They said the message did not explain why, but council members were willing to do so.
When Mayor Andy Stern commented that he and Barovsky would be off the council in April because of term limits, he and view preservation task force chair Sam Hall Kaplan got into a shouting match and Stern repeatedly tried to keep the floor.

Interest Grows in Community Wildfire Protection Plan Meetings

2009-10-28T16:30:00.000-07:00

• Neighborhood by Neighborhood Approach May Result in Locally Oriented Preparation Plans

BY BILL KOENEKER

An organizer of the Community Wildfire Protection Plan indicated interest is growing in the public meetings that are being held throughout the Malibu coast and Santa Monica Mountains and that future meetings will be able to accommodate them.
“We’re hearing from more folks that more are interested in the CWPP than could attend the meetings. We’re working on designing a larger public meeting in January to review what we did now (the mapping), and give folks a chance for further input,” said Tracy Katelman, who works for ForeverGreen Forestry, the contractor who conducts the meetings under the umbrella of various federal, state, county and city agencies that have endorsed the process.
Katelman said the meetings are an opportunity for the public to spell out the specifics of their neighborhoods in terms of planning or preventing the spread of wildfires to residential areas.
She said governmental agencies, such as the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the City of Malibu and the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area among others, have signed on to the process, which will use the public input, then organized by priority for a final document that is a set of recommendations.
When asked to describe the full implications of the plan, Katelman said, “The community plan does not have legal standing. These are recommendations, they are not mandatory.”
Katelman, who said she had initially gotten a lot of questions about it, indicated she did not believe that insurance companies would use the maps generated from the set of recommendations. “I’ve never heard of any [insurance] agency using them,” she added.
She said the final document is most useful for neighborhood fire councils or even various government agencies to utilize the data if they are attempting to get funding or doing a project. “It shows a consensus about what is important for the community,” the forestry expert said.
Katelman cited as an example how some neighborhoods identify large pines and eucalyptus as tree hazards that could help spread wildfire.
Currently, the City of Malibu’s Public Safety Commission is discussing some kind of possible ban on hazardous or flammable trees. The data from the CWPP could possibly be used to obtain grant funding for the city, according to Katelman.
There is a timeline for the plan, according to Katelman, who said the draft document will be reviewed by committee and there will be what she called web review of the proposed plan in February. There will be community review of the plan in March, and by mid-April there should be a public draft document. The final plan is scheduled for release in June.
The series of 10 community meetings between Oct. 20 and November 10 and again in January 2010 will allow the public to identify priority projects that would help prepare their homes, neighborhoods and communities for wildfire. The plan covers 100,000 acres in the SMMNRA.
CWPP’s are a federal vehicle for communities to idenfity priority actions for wildfire prevention and overall fire safety on both public and private lands.
Local residents are encouraged to attend the meeting scheduled for their specific community.
For more information and workshop details go to: www.ci.malibu.ca.us/ index.cfm/fuseaction/detail/navid/478/cid/14611/

Blue Ribbon Task Force Delays Action on MPA Selection until a November Meeting

2009-10-28T16:27:00.000-07:00

• Protection and Fishing Interests Engaged in Vigorous Debate

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

After three days of debate, discussion and input that included hours of public testimony from fishing advocates and Marine Protected Area proponents, the Blue Ribbon Task Force, appointed to choose one of three Marine Life Protection Act Initiative implementation plans to present to the Department of Fish and Game, opted to postpone their final decision until November.
A resolution to send all three proposals to the DFG was passed early on the third day. The task force then began the process of constructing its own proposal, using elements of Proposal 1, viewed as a compromise between conservation and utilization proponents, and Proposal 2, the plan favored by the fishing community. The BRTF finally concluded that they required more time to make a final decision. Another meeting will now be scheduled, tentatively on Nov. 10 in Los Angeles.
Throughout the three-day meeting, debate centered on a number of ecological hotspots, including Point Dume.
“It’s really fundamental for us to understand that there are key geologies in the California Bight that are network critical,” task force member Meg Caldwell said at the start of the third day of debate.
Caldwell identified the areas of primary concern as Point Conception, Goleta, Point Dume, Palos Verdes Peninsula, Laguna, La Jolla, and Catalina, but discussion quickly narrowed the debate to a tug-of-war between conservation and fishing interests, centering on Palos Verdes and Point Dume, described by science advisory team co-chair Steven Murray as “the most difficult geography we have to deal with.”
“Surrounded by the densest populations we’ve had to deal with in the MPLA process, and some of the biggest marinas, these are important habitat,” Murray said. “Dume is tied to Palos Verdes, It’s not a replacement for Palos Verdes, it has a paucity of rock but encompasses a lot of beach and other habitat. It’s a critical area in terms of gaps.”
Local recreational spearfishers, kayakers and the commercial fishing community have argued passionately in support of keeping popular Point Dume fishing areas open, but according to Stakeholder Group 2 representative Kevin Ketchum, the area and the waters off of Point Dume and Palos Verdes, are primarily significant as a destination for small sport boats from the bay’s two major marinas.
“This is an economic issue but also a social issue,” Ketchum said. “These waters are designed for small boats. Public policy provides small boat access, so you carry that forward, [without fishing it would be] access to what?” Ketchum said. “Public policy provides public access and these waters are designated for small boating access.”
Stakeholder Group 3 representative Garth Murphy defended his group’s plan to extend the highest level of protection—a State Marine Reserve—to the waters off Little Dume. “It’s really important to get this [eastern] side [of Point Dume] in,” he said. “This is the 100-3000 meter deep rock. This rock is superimportant. If you are going to give something up of the two, [Palos Verdes] is the one to give up.”
“The entire Malibu coast has kayak launches, access points and fishing areas of importance, as well as a good amount of kelp,” Proposal 1 representative Sarah Sikich said, countering a previous speaker’s statement that Proposal 1 would amount to a 100 percent loss of the three Malibu areas that attract kayaker use.
Sikich stated that her group’s map attempts to both protect critical areas but still maintain fishing access. “We were very careful to leave Escondido open, which is a launch spot, and areas of Big Kelp Reef, as well as areas to the other side of Escondido because of the interest of the kayak community. We understand they aren’t completely happy with it, but we thought that was what struck a balance.
“The other thing I would like to remind you of is how much community support there is for a reserve in this area,” Sikich said. “We heard numerous people last night, 30-plus people, speaking of their support, even though they fish, they also kayak, wildlife view and do other things there. The City of Malibu also supports this [map]. They actually voted to support a resolution supporting Map 1. I think you should take into consideration the non-consumptive values in the area...the vast majority and uses in this area are non-consumptive.”
The task force discussed incorporating the Proposal 2 map for Palos Verdes and applying Proposal 1 to Point Dume with some changes.
“Point Dume for sure,” Caldwell said, recommending that the final proposal move the eastern boundary of the proposed Point Dume SMR west of the Paradise Cove Pier, leaving the Big Kelp Reef open for fishing and pushing the western boundary of the proposed State Marine Conservation Area further west to capture an area of kelp forest located off of Lechusa Beach.
The recommendations were recorded, but the BRTF opted to wait until November to make a final decision.
“One of the things we don’t want to do is make a decision we aren’t prepared to make, the task force chair, Cathy Reheis-Boyd, said, at the conclusion of the marathon session. “We need time to reflect. There’s a lot here. We have more work to do. I hope you’re patient and appreciate why we’re doing this.”
Revised maps and next month’s meeting date had not been released when The News went to press, however, they will become available on the MLPA Website at http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa

Malibu Not a ‘High’ School

2009-10-28T16:25:00.000-07:00

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Some parents raised an alarm when a Malibu High School Malibu sports calendar, which is published three times a year by an independent company, was discovered to feature an ad for a local medical marijuana dispensary.
“Malibu High School is living up to the ‘high’ part of its name,” an email from one concerned parent to the Malibu Surfside News read.
The high school’s athletic director Chris Neier, in an email to the school online community, explained that he contacted the calendar company as soon as the issue was brought to his attention. “The marijuana dispensary will never be on a sports poster again,” Neier wrote. “I called the poster company and let them know. I think they just made a bad mistake.”
Neier told The News that the company that produces the calendars also solicits and sells the ads on them to local businesses. Funds raised go to the MHS Athletic Booster Club. Except for submitting photos of MHS athletes, the school is not involved in the process.
“We received an e-mail from one of our parents,” Neier said. “Once we found out about it, we put the kabosh on it right away. It isn’t going to happen again.”

Publisher’s Notebook

2009-10-28T16:23:00.000-07:00

• Battle of the Buses (and Petitions) •

ANNE SOBLE

Although everyone, including this observer, was surprised at the sparse turnout when the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board held their recent workshop in Malibu, all the pundits say that Malibuites are likely to turn out in force for the Nov. 5 hearing on whether the panel should enact a prohibition of new septic tanks and stringent curbs on existing ones in the commercial hub of the City of Malibu.
Perhaps people decided that the deck was already so stacked that they wanted to preserve their firepower for the main event. Still, the city is paying for a bus to go downtown, but what if most of the riders are municipal staff and media?
Whether there is or isn’t a major Malibu presence next Thursday, groups—including Heal the Bay and Surfrider Foundation—are urging their ranks to attend, providing maps and public transportation directions to facilitate large turnouts.
These groups are using all forms of analog and digital media to encourage the signing of petitions that will be presented to the water quality board. These petitions ask the RWQCB to create an integrated wastewater and stormwater treatment plan for the Lower Malibu Creek Watershed to try to alleviate what are described as chronic pollution problems of longstanding duration.
These groups support the proposed moratorium on future development in the area until this integrated system is operational. They urge work on the system to begin by 2011, saying the health of 1.5 million recreational users at Malibu Creek and Lagoon is at stake. Proponents of these views are expected to pack the hearing room.
If the board decides to begin a process of reducing and ultimately eliminating the role of septic tanks in mid-Malibu wastewater management, it cannot dictate what the specific municipal response to this action will be.
However, if the city is faced with a finite time frame, the number of options may be limited by its ability to have a fix in place in time to avoid prohibitive fines that could quickly surpass the cost per property owner for a capital project.
This is a textbook example of a public policy issue that has cried out for resolution for too long. Because it was politically expedient to delay local action, the impact of any determination that occurs now will be greater than it had to be.Although everyone, including this observer, was surprised at the sparse turnout when the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board held their recent workshop in Malibu, all the pundits say that Malibuites are likely to turn out in force for the Nov. 5 hearing on whether the panel should enact a prohibition of new septic tanks and stringent curbs on existing ones in the commercial hub of the City of Malibu.
Perhaps people decided that the deck was already so stacked that they wanted to preserve their firepower for the main event. Still, the city is paying for a bus to go downtown, but what if most of the riders are municipal staff and media?
Whether there is or isn’t a major Malibu presence next Thursday, groups—including Heal the Bay and Surfrider Foundation—are urging their ranks to attend, providing maps and public transportation directions to facilitate large turnouts.
These groups are using all forms of analog and digital media to encourage the signing of petitions that will be presented to the water quality board. These petitions ask the RWQCB to create an integrated wastewater and stormwater treatment plan for the Lower Malibu Creek Watershed to try to alleviate what are described as chronic pollution problems of longstanding duration.
These groups support the proposed moratorium on future development in the area until this integrated system is operational. They urge work on the system to begin by 2011, saying the health of 1.5 million recreational users at Malibu Creek and Lagoon is at stake. Proponents of these views are expected to pack the hearing room.
If the board decides to begin a process of reducing and ultimately eliminating the role of septic tanks in mid-Malibu wastewater management, it cannot dictate what the specific municipal response to this action will be.
However, if the city is faced with a finite time frame, the number of options may be limited by its ability to have a fix in place in time to avoid prohibitive fines that could quickly surpass the cost per property owner for a capital project.
This is a textbook example of a public policy issue that has cried out for resolution for too long. Because it was politically expedient to delay local action, the impact of any determination that occurs now will be greater than it had to be.

Mitrice Richardson Is Still Missing: Malibu City Council Adds Its Voice to the Growing Chorus of Concern for Her Well-Being

2009-10-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

• Members Authorize $15,000 Reward for Information Related to Action Concerning 24-Year-Old's Disappearance

BY ANNE SOBLE

The Malibu City Council on Monday expressed heartfelt sympathy over the disappearance of a visitor to the community and at its quarterly review meeting Wednesday night approved "establishing a $15,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the disappearance of Mitrice Richardson." The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors had already posted a $10,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of the young woman who has now been missing for six weeks.

The 24-year-old Cal State Fullerton honors graduate was last seen not long after midnight on Sept. 17 when she was released from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on her own recognizance after being booked for two misdemeanor counts resulting from her declared inability to pay for an $89.51 dinner tab at Geoffrey’s restaurant and the presence in her vehicle of less than an ounce of marijuana.
Richardson was described by Geoffrey staffers as acting crazily—stating she was from Mars and spouting gibberish—in a call made to the sheriff’s department to pick her up.
However, when the deputies arrived on the scene to take custody of her after a citizen’s arrest by the restaurant manager, it was noted in a report written a week after her arrest that she passed a field sobriety test. After she was brought to Lost Hills, a jailer said Richardson conversed and was lucid.
The Malibu Surfside News obtained a copy of Richardson’s booking report this week, which indicates she was booked at 10:20 p.m. and released at 0025, or 12:25 a.m., which is an hour earlier than first stated by sheriff’s department spokespersons and reported in the media.
The one hour difference could have major ramifications in the timing of misinformation that was given to Richardson’s mother, Latice Sutton, when she placed numerous telephone calls to Lost Hills about her daughter.
The booking report confirms that Richardson had no money in her possession. The only personal property recorded was a brown hat, a pink belt and her California driver license, which she signed for when it was returned.
The report states Richardson told deputies that in case of an emergency her great-grandmother Mildred Harris, with whom she resided in Los Angeles, was the person to be contacted.
The report notes there were four attempts to call Harris, each of which are initialed M.R., but it is not known whether the calls were completed due to the inability of the Lost Hills calls to be verified.
FUNDS REQUEST
Monday night, the city council indicated it would post a missing person flyer for Richardson on the city website and put the reward proposal on the agenda for the Wednesday meeting after citizen input recommending the city at least match the $10,000 county reward, albeit with the suggestion the money could be used to help defray family expenses, but the speaker wasn’t specific which family members might be involved.
According to some of the volunteers involved in the search effort, the missing woman’s family, which largely presents a united front, has two separate wings, one in which the mother and Mitrice Richardson’s mentor during college, psychologist Ronda Hampton, are active. Their site, www.findmitrice.info, was the original ground zero in the search effort. The group’s volunteers conduct active field searches, such as one conducted downtown this past Sunday in which noted social commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson took part.
Sutton and Hampton spearheaded the concern that Richardson might have

experienced debilitating stress or psychological illness and should have been placed under observation by medical professionals instead being taken to and then being released alone, on foot and without funds from the desolate Lost Hills station.

The woman’s father, Michael Richardson, has subsequently put together his own website, which is still being built, that does not mention the mother by name. He has opened a PayPal account with buttons for contributions by monetary denomination. It is not indicated whether a non-profit group has been formed, or if there is a special bank account for the funds.
MAYOR’S REPORT
Michael Richardson’s website refers to an Oct. 2 exchange with “Malibu Mayor Andy Stark” (Andy Stern), a reference to telephone calls, the tapes of which were played for the Malibu Surfside News last week, in which Richardson appears to tell Stern he will picket his real estate office and tie up his telephone lines with calls because Stern has not done enough to prod the authorities.
Stern reported the calls to the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station, where the matter has been assigned to Detective Vic Paladino for further investigation.

New Phone App Combats ‘Invaders’

2009-10-28T16:20:00.000-07:00

• NPS Enlists the Public’s Help in Weeding Out Non-Native Plant Species

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

Noxious aliens are invading the Santa Monica Mountains, crowding out the natives and destroying habitat. The National Park Service, working together with UCLA’s Center for Embed-ded Networked Sensing and a Web and App design company called Take Five Labs, has developed a new tool to combat the invasion and the public is invited to participate in the fight. It's not the plot of a 1950s horror movie, instead, it's a new smartphone application, or app, that helps park visitors identify and document non-native plant species.
Using the free app, individuals with GPS-enabled mobile phones can contribute to locating invasive species by making geo-tagged observations and taking photos of them to alert the National Park Service of the spread of habitat-destroying plants.
“Invasive non-native plants are a huge ongoing problem,” NPS Policy and External Affairs Manager Lauren Newman told the Malibu Surfside News. “UCLA is really interested in how we can interact with the environment using technology, this was an opportunity to partner with them to help raise public awareness [about this issue].”
One of the focuses of the UCLA’s CENS is “developing freely available systems for enabling citizen science activities that preserve our natural environment,” according to the NPS announcement on the program.
Newman said that the invasive plant program is an opportunity for citizen scientists to make a real contribution—a reflection of the growing trend towards recognizing the value of data collected by amateur scientists—but it’s also designed to be fun.
“It’s great for families who like a specific activity when they visit the parks,” Newman said, describing the program as a combination of treasure or scavenger hunt and science field lesson. “It’s a fun but it’s real science that the parks department is involved in every day,” Newman said. “If you don’t have a smartphone, there are still lots of opportunities to participate. GPS units, ordinary cell phones and cameras can all be used in the program.”
Instructions, information on the program, a list of invasive plants with photos and descriptions and links for downloading the smartphone app can be found at http://whatsinvasive.com/

City Begins Massive Transformation of Trancas Park Site

2009-10-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

• 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.

Regional Water Board Hearing Is Still Set for Nov. 5 as Location Reverts Back to the Original Site that Was First Announced

2009-10-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

• Residents Urged to Monitor Specifics until Last Minute

The meeting location for the hearing when the Regional Water Quality Control Board is scheduled to consider a prohibition on future septic tanks and stringently regulate existing wastewater procesing facilities for the Malibu Civic Center and surrounding neighborhoods will be held in the board room of the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California at 700 North Alameda Street in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 5 at 9 a.m.
That is the meeting location that was first announced for the important hearing that will have major ramifications for local wastewater policy. The location was then moved to Simi Valley, but was switched back to the MWD board room, when the RWQCB determined that a major turnout is anticipated to attend and larger meeting quarters might be advisable.
The Malibu issue is the final item on the agenda, but most of the other items are described as uncontested and expected to be handled routinely, according to the agenda notice.
The agenda item’s formal description is “consideration of an amendment to the Basin Plan to prohibit discharge from onsite wastewater disposal systems in the Malibu Civic Center area, including Malibu valley and surrounding hillsides, Winter Canyon and surrounding hillsides and the coastal strips along the Pacific Coast Highway between and including Carbon Beach and Amarillo Beach.
The deadline for submission of written materials—Oct. 8—remained unchanged.

Council Rushes to Change Meeting Date Per Everyone’s Expectation

2009-10-21T15:58:00.000-07:00

• Surprises May Be in Store If Members Think Municipal Flacks Will Dominate the Headlines

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council is poised to discuss the changing of the date of the regular city council sessions at a meeting next week, but the behind the scenes scuttlebutt is that it is a fait accompli—the Brown Act notwithstanding.
At its last meeting, the council directed the staff to bring back the matter on a future agenda. The proposed change was immediately put forward to the next agenda and the staff prepared an ordinance amendment changing the date of council meetings from the second and fourth Monday of each month to the second and fourth Tuesday of each month. The action, if approved, would take effect for the council’s November meeting.
The change is problematic for the local newspapers, given that they go to press on Tuesday night in keeping with local tradition and the local business cycle and that could impact the level of news coverage.
Some council observers think part of the reason for the wanting the date change is that the council’s own press releases—which are often picked up verbatim by the cash and staff-strapped larger media—could preempt more incisive and in-depth local coverage by reporters who work and live locally.
The notion that the city wants PR and not news comes as no surprise to scholars of local government who described it as “the nature of the beast.”
When Councilmember Sharon Barovsky called for the council to consider the change, she said she did not think it would pose a problem since the planning commission changed its meeting day to Tuesday in order to accommodate panelist Joan House, a former council member, when she was tapped to take a seat on the commission.
The commission is considered a springboard for higher office. Former Planning Commissioners Andy Stern, Harry Barovsky, Ken Kearsley, Joan House, Tom Hasse and John Harlow all used the seat to get elected to higher office.
Still, the staff report offers a new explanation that may have been refined in light of concerns already expressed about the date change. It indicates that, during this year, the council meeting day has been moved from Monday to Tuesday twice—first due to the Memorial Day holiday and then in September in observance of Yom Kippur. “Changing the permanent regular meeting date to Tuesdays would circumvent these future scheduling conflicts,” a staff report states. disregarding the fact that Jewish holidays change days from year to year.
The report goes on to say that modifying the regular meeting schedule would also allow the staff an additional business day to prepare for council meetings because Tuesday through Friday are not working—even though they are not broken up by the weekend as would be Wednesday through Monday.
“It also provides the public additional time to contact staff and or city council members to discuss agenda items. Significant amounts of correspondence are often submitted for various agenda items. The modified schedule would allow staff time to evaluate and respond to such correspondence and would provide the city council with additional time for review. Due to reduced staffing on Fridays, conducting city council meetings on Tuesdays rather than Mondays would assist in balancing the work load,” the staff report concludes.
The city council meetings right after incorporation were held on Tuesdays, but the local press urged the Monday change in the interest of timely news coverage and better informed public participation.

School District Puts Lights Issue on Hold Pending Action on Malibu LCP

2009-10-21T15:55:00.000-07:00

• Supporters of Lights for MHS Games Continue Their Efforts to Obtain Permanent Solutions

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Board of Education, at its Oct. 15 meeting in Santa Monica, reluctantly voted to remove permanent field lighting from Malibu High School’s Measure BB-funded improvement plans, but only “for now.”
The permanent field lighting, which would have had the potential to be in use more than 200 nights a year, was an alternative that could only be constructed if sufficient funds were left after the BB core projects were completed. The plan would also require changes to zoning in the City of Malibu’s Local Coastal Program, as well as variances for a number of other municipal regulations ranging from light pollution to height restrictions.
The decision came after the California Coastal Commission ruled unanimously to uphold the City of Malibu’s Coastal Development Program and General Plan and deny the school district’s request to amend the Malibu Campus’s Coastal Development Permit to allow temporary lighting for the school’s football program. The district, which has used unpermetted temporary lights for a number of years, agreement to a deed restriction on the Malibu property in 2000 prohibiting temporary or permanent field lighting as a condition for a Coastal Development Permit to build new facilities at the campus.
“I think everybody is fully aware that last week the district application for our Coastal Commission amendment was denied, ” Tim Cuneo told the board. “At that time, one of the main concerns of commissioners was the continuation of our plans for permanent lighting of the field and one of the suggestions we had as we went into the meeting was removing that part of the Measure BB plan.
“Since the denial of the temporary lights, I think it is even more important that the board consider removing this portion of the project. Staff will then stop moving forward and including this in the project description as we do the Environmental Impact Review as we move forward with the CDP application through the City of Malibu,” Cuneo stated.
Asked to “walk the board members through the commission’s decision,” district chief financial officer Jan Maez said, “Basically, the standard that the California Coastal Commission uses in evaluating permits is the LCP of the area. The primary basis for their decision to deny the amendment was based on the local coastal plan that’s been established in the Malibu area. They felt that night lighting of sports courts in the coastal zone of the CDP was a violation of the plan. They had other areas [of concern], but that was probably the strongest argument in their opposition.”
Maez did not mention a long list of environmental concerns, including light pollution and wildlife impact, that attracted opposition to the lighting plan from the Sierra Club, and led the commission to take coastal staff and the school district’s consultants to task for allegedly failing to accurately report the project’s potential for environmental damage. The commissioners also questioned the district’s commitment to honoring the 16-night limit presented in the amendment requested.
“I’m really very encouraged that some of our parent community has given direction to city staff to start that process of considering [changing the LCP],” Maez said. “The fact that they are interested in it gives us the hope that in the future when the CDP is amended the school community could come back and reconsider some kind of lighting of the field, whether it’s temporary for 16 nights, or for other athletic purposes or even in the larger community. At this time, we have the existing LCP. Continuing to move ahead with football lighting as part of BB would not be cost effective for the program at this time because of the LCP. “
“It’s out of our hands today,” board vice president Barry Snell said, describing the lighting plan as an enormous undertaking. “I think we as a board have done everything we could possibly do as a board to show our support of it. It’s the only activity that students have on a nightly basis to be able to congregate. The Coastal Commission didn’t understand. I think we argued our point very validly.”
“The people who were opposed to the lighting didn’t think about the students, instead they thought about aesthetics and everything that was around them,” board member Maria Leon Vazquez said. “What’s important to us is students. It’s important that we support the community that does want the lights.”
“I can’t speak for residents around the school, but those that I have talked to I believe would testify to this, that they were not opposed to the temporary plan itself,” MHS football player and associated student body president Hap Henry told the board. “They were opposed to having what they thought could be the opening of a Pandora’s box situation, where there could have been dozens or even hundreds of night uses under the permanent plan that we’ve been supporting up until this point,” Henry told the board.
“And I do not personally think that we should stop our efforts to obtain permanent lighting under a more reasonable limited basis in which I feel there should be the football games, as a football player, and that we could also include several, I don’t know what the number would be, but less, soccer for both boys and girls and lacrosse games to be under the lights in order to ensure the equity,” Henry continued. “I want to publicly attest that I do not support the maximum plan for the football field that would include adult sports.”
“Not having night games has really motivated students to not register that there is a game,” said MHS cheerleader Eden Concoff. “When you think about your high school career, a lot of that probably revolves around sporting events and homecoming and senior night and we don’t have that at all. So it makes sense to everyone at some level that we really do need these lights just so we can have a high school experience and be able to look back and say ‘Oh, that night football game was so much fun.’ We don’t have that at all. For the cheerleaders it really difficult for us.”
The cash-strapped school district, which is facing a $12-15 million deficit this year, authorized one last MHS temporary lighting expense at the meeting: an additional $20,000 in general funds for Culbertson and Associates, the firm hired by the district to prepare the CCC amendment and lobby the commission, bringing the total for the firm’s temporary lighting efforts to $54,000. The amendment extends the contract until June of 2010, to ensure that all of the project’s loose ends are tied up, according to district staff.

Board of Education Hopes PR Could Help Produce Dollars

2009-10-21T15:52:00.000-07:00

• SMMUSD Area Schools Are Facing Three Years of Deficit Funds Due to Statewide Economic Crisis

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

With a bleak economic outlook and a $12 million deficit that is anticipated to grow by an additional $12 million annually for the next three years, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Board of Education is discussing hiring a communications director to improve public relations and assist the district in finding funding sources.
The job description that accompanied the Oct. 15 board of education meeting agenda stated “Under the supervision of the superintendent, the director of communications, accountability, and community engagement, plans, develops, coordinates, and implements communication and public relations activities; advises upon and manages effective media, community and public relations; composes and designs press releases for distribution; maintains editorial and graphics standards; and coordinates and produces special public events.”
The salary and benefits for the proposed position would total $107,010: a salary of $85,608 and a benefits package of $21,402. Staff proposed that 60 percent of the salary would be funded “through monies that had been budgeted for the director of school safety position, which will not be filled.” The remaining 40 percent could potentially be funded with Measure BB bond money, according to the staff report.
District supervisor Tim Cuneo suggested that the new position could provide valuable assistance with the parcel tax and bond issue initiatives currently being discussed. He added that the current building and improvement bond, measure BB, committee has also requested assistance.
The proposal met with a mixed reception.
Cynthia Torres, chair of the Financial Oversight Committee, spoke in support of the discussion item. “The [parcel tax] election is likely to happen,” she said. We are in a dire financial position. We need effective public and media relations [to] tell the district’s story effectively [and] make effective use of media.”
Santa Monica school activist Richard MacKinnon disagreed. “The moment that the superintendent told us all we were facing a $12 million hole in funding our schools is the moment I don’t believe we should go ahead with the hires. We were told in the spring there would be a hiring freeze. This is going in a completely wrong direction. The public of our community will take the entirely wrong message away.”
“Would it be bad politically to do this?” asked board member Ben Allen.
Teachers Union representative Harry Keiley seemed to think so. “The reality is you’ve increased class sizes, we’re in a so-called economic crisis and were talking about spending more money, not less, on a position that may be needed in good times? You’re asking employee groups to make considerable concessions and be part of a solution. I’m appalled that this item is here at this time in this climate.
“I don’t buy into the branding of public schools,” Keily continued. “This is not corporate America. This is not the time to be talking about creating a $100,000 position, which is the equivalent of two beginning teachers. How are my teachers going to respond to this? If this is a real crisis out there we need to start acting like it.”
“I’ve always thought a position like this could bring value to the district,” board member Jose Escarce responded. “I wish it would have been proposed a long time ago but I couldn’t defend this [now] because I think we are currently in a position to support programs as much as possible,” “Yes, of course there would be benefit but the short-term effect is negligible. I believe it would be a terrible mistake on the part of board to do this now.”
“Devastating cuts for budget mean I can’t support this either,” board member Kelly Pye said.
“I’m enthusiastic about the proposal,” Allen said. “I requested that it is placed on the discussion rather than action agenda. It’s about the district doing its best job of putting it’s best foot, face, forward. We just don’t get the story out. I just think of the lost opportunities.”
“I’ve been very supportive of this position for a long time,” board vice president Barry Snell said. “This is a position that’s vitally needed. I think it’s a position that in the long run will affect our district in ways it never has before. I understand the climate we’re in right now and understand that supporting a position like this now is hard to see [but] this kind of make considerable concessions and be part of a solution. I’m appalled that this item is here at this time in this climate.
“I don’t buy into the branding of public schools,” Keily continued. “This is not corporate America. This is not the time to be talking about creating a $100,000 position, which is the equivalent of two beginning teachers. How are my teachers going to respond to this? If this is a real crisis out there we need to start acting like it.”
“I’ve always thought a position like this could bring value to the district,” board member Jose Escarce responded. “I wish it would have been proposed a long time ago but I couldn’t defend this [now] because I think we are currently in a position to support programs as much as possible,” “Yes, of course there would be benefit but the short-term effect is negligible. I believe it would be a terrible mistake on part of board to do this now.”
“Devastating cuts for budget mean I can’t support this either,” board member Kelly Pye said.
“I’m enthusiastic about the proposal,” Allen said. “I requested that it is placed on the discussion rather than action agenda. It’s about the district doing its best job of putting it’s best foot, face, forward. We just don’t get the story out. I just think of the lost opportunities.”
“I’ve been very supportive of this position for a long time,” board vice president Barry Snell said. “This is a position that’s vitally needed. I think it’s a position that in the long run will affect our district in ways it never has before. I understand the climate were in right now and understand that supporting a position like this now is hard to see [but] this kind of position will enhance the revenue.”
“We’re not ready at this point,” board president Ralph Mechur said. “[This is a] wonderful communication plan, [but] where’s the budget for it? There’s cost associated with this. I think there needs to be a lot to talk about it before we jump in and blindly move ahead.” Mechur and several other board members questioned the legality of using BB funds for administrative salary.
“There are tons of things slipping through the cracks at the district all the time,” Allen argued, describing the PR position as a “top priority” of the PTA. “I’d like to have a plan in place,” he said, suggesting that perhaps a junior position, with “significantly less pay” and an end-of-year review, might be a better option, to “give the supervisor some bread and butter help with newsletters and things.”
“What I heard is that you would like to see something before you that is more strategic in a plan of the areas of which would be addressed and laid out,” Cuneo said. “The one thing you focused on is communicating with the public. Part of the public are our employees and we don’t do a good job communicating with our employees. That is a very critical area in this organization. Communicating within the district helps with morale.”
“We’re just going to have to limp along for a while. maybe a long while,” Escarce said. “I would have a great deal of difficulty in supporting the creation of this position this year.”
“I don’t want to bring something back to you that’s going to get put on a shelf,” Cuneo said.
The board agreed that the superintendent should meet with the board president and vice president to further discuss the matter, before bringing the item back to the board.

Mitrice Richardson Now Has Been Missing for Over a Month

2009-10-21T15:49:00.000-07:00

• Number of Volunteer Searchers Grows as Word Spreads about Woman Arrested in Malibu

BY ANNE SOBLE

There’s something about the saga of Mitrice Richardson that elicits concern from everyone who learns that the 24-year-old, arrested for nonpayment of an $89.51 dinner tab and the subsequent finding of less than an ounce of marijuana in her vehicle on Sept. 16, has not been heard from in over five weeks.
“Why aren’t there posters up everywhere? Why isn’t this on the TV news every night? Why aren’t there photos on the sides of buses?” are some of the questions asked by people when they see volunteers distributing flyers about the honors college graduate with doctoral degree aspirations who may be experiencing debilitating psychological stress or full-fledged mental illness.
When the manager at Geoffrey’s restaurant performed a citizen’s arrest after Richardson attempted to leave the premises without paying, her behavior was described as “crazy.” Staff said she was speaking gibberish and stating that she was from Mars.
After her disappearance, family and friends indicated she was sending undecipherable emails and exhibiting other puzzling behavior a few days prior to the restaurant episode.
Apart from a sighting in the backyard of a Cold Canyon residence just before dawn following her 1:25 a.m. release from the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Station on Sept. 17, Richardson has virtually disappeared.
Although there are frequent reports of sightings, none have produced any leads to her whereabouts. Volunteer searchers spent last Sunday in the Santa Monica and Venice areas, where there were more sightings than in any other area, according to search coordinator Chip Croft.
The growing ranks of volunteers express hope that the missing woman will be found, but concern mounts that the stress of the arrest, the release without funds, alone and on foot, and her current status has pushed her into a crisis state. “She may not know who she is,” Croft said.
“Every lead is being followed up painstakingly,” according to Detective Chuck Knolls from the Los Angeles Police Department, now the lead agency on what is still technically a missing person case because Richardson’s residence is in South Los Angeles. He added that “there is nothing new to report.”
INFORMATION CAMPAIGN
As the searching continues, Richardson’s father Michael, with whom she did not live when growing up, has increased his visibility in an effort to draw public attention to her story.
He has started to appear on programs that are part of the Black Talk Radio Network system of bloggers, Internet radio shows and other independent media, to “take the search for Mitrice national.”
Speaking on a two-hour interview show based in North Carolina last Thursday, the father hammered at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department for alleged errors and inconsistencies in their reports.
Richardson was sharply critical of the release of his daughter “who is afraid of the dark” alone, on foot and without funds “into the wilderness” outside the Lost Hills station, while she was in a “troubled state.”
He also came down hard on the mainstream media, which he says did sloppy reporting, even as he dismissed it as not relevant to the black community.
The father noted the discrepancy between the kind of glaring news coverage a missing white student who was vacationing in Aruba received versus that being given to his daughter.
He also said he wants to bring black activist Al Sharpton on board, as he tries to “harness the power of the Internet,” including what is often dubbed the Black Blogosphere.
Richardson added that he tried to enlist the support of Malibu Mayor Andy Stern in his efforts, but he said that Stern only referred him to the sheriff’s department. The Malibu City Council has taken no action concerning the woman’s disappearance.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors has posted a $10,000 reward for information leading to Mitrice Richardson’s whereabouts. The supervisors also have asked the LASD to report back on after-hour release policies and procedures for inmates with possible psychological issues.
Information about Richardson can be directed to www.findmitrice.info or Michael Richardson at 310-283-4717, Ronda Hampton at 951-660-8031, or LAPD Detective Chuck Knolls at 213-485-2531.

Ex-Serra Retreat Master Has Died

2009-10-21T15:46:00.000-07:00

• Father Emery Tang Left Legacy of ‘Sacred Ordinary’

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

The Serra Retreat chapel, with its graceful architecture and magnificent views, offers an oasis of tranquility at the heart of the retreat’s grounds. The man who presided over its building died earlier this year, but the chapel remains as part of the legacy of one of the retreat’s best-loved masters. Emery Tang, retreat master, teacher, writer, photographer and poet, died on June 8. He was 81.
Tang was born in Phoenix Arizona in 1927 and ordained in 1952 at the Santa Barbara Mission. He spent a decade as a teacher and later a principal at schools in Northern California.
When Tang became a retreat master at the Serra Retreat in 1972, the Franciscans were still working to salvage and rebuild, following the devastating 1970 fire that destroyed most of the retreat’s buildings and left the grounds and the surrounding mountains scorched and barren.
Tang continued to be involved with the Malibu retreat house off and on for three decades. He was appointed Serra’s director in 1984. Retreatants remember him as a compelling and inspiring speaker and a man of great compassion who possessed a wry sense of humor. Visitors often encountered him working in the gardens, tending to his flowers.
“Whenever Emery went to speak or conduct retreats, people would flock to absorb his inspiring words delivered with simplicity and humility,” wrote Father Warren Rouse, Serra Retreat’s current director. “In ‘retirement’ he continued his preaching ministry in the parish and elsewhere, even though his health was precarious.”
Tang was also a highly respected photographer, his work described as embodying the “sacred ordinary.” His photographs accompany his three books, “China Connection,” which examines his Chinese American heritage; “Food for the Journey,” a book of essays; and “The Clams Are Talking,” a collection of poetry written in collaboration with fellow Franciscan Hugh Noonan.

Proposed Ban on Retail Formula Not Dead Yet

2009-10-21T15:42:00.000-07:00

BY BILL KOENEKER

The Malibu City Council’s Zoning Ordinance Revisions and Code Enforcement Subcommittee, or ZORACES, met last week to consider whether the municipality should draft a ban on chain stores or what officials call a retail formula ordinance.
The council subcommittee members, Councilmembers John Sibert and Jefferson Wagner were met by many of the shopping center owners or their representatives, real estate brokers and other critics, who have repeatedly asked the city to retire the proposal since they believe it is not needed and will not do what it is proposed to do.
For years, a proposed ban on franchise type retail outlets has been floating around, after a recommendation by Councilmember Pamela Conley Ulich, who drafted the language of the proposed measure.
The subcommittee last week, agreed to send the proposal back to staff to possibly rework the law and to consider if there are methods of enforcing current zoning laws.
The proposal reiterated by Conley Ulich is based on a court-tested law that proponents say would eliminate many chains such as Burger King or other like franchises from easily descending on the Malibu coast.
However, shopping center owners and other critics repeated that the market in Malibu precludes such kinds of low rent franchises with high-end boutiques and other stores such as Gucci or others that could easily end run around any such ordinance because of the uniqueness of each of these kinds of boutiques.
Subcommittee members were reportedly unwilling to kill the proposed ordinance in subcommittee. “That is not what we were charged with,” said Sibert.
The council had reconsidered the matter at a July 27, 2009 meeting, when a majority of the council determined that the issue should not be placed on the April 2010 ballot for voter consideration, but rather be shipped over to ZORACES.
The matter had come before the council three years ago when it first heard about the issue.
It is not the first time the council has wanted ZORACES to consider the matter. In 2007 the council directed the panel to review a proposed ordinance to narrow the scope of the program prior to initiating a new law.
ZORACES developed recommendations for the council's consideration.
By 2008, the council adopted a resolution and all the other necessary documents needed for enacting such a law.
Again it went back to ZORACES which reviewed the item and public input. The staff requested input on ordinance language and guidelines prior to the preparation of a draft ordinance for planning commission and city council consideration, according to a staff report.
However, based on several comments of the subcommittee and members of the public, ZORACES recommended the issue of whether or not to draft an ordinance be sent back to the city council for consideration for placement on the April 2010 ballot, according to a staff report.