Last Monday, July 1st, over 300 of you turned out for the Planning Commission hearing. The Main Auditorium was filled past capacity and the Lobby was standing room only as well. Over 4 hours of testimony from residents were given before the Commission began their deliberations.
92% of all comments were extremely negative about the proposed slashing of the allowable Total Development Square Footage on all non-Beachfront lots. Beachfront changes were not part of the agendized item but that didn’t stop the Commissioners.
The Planning Commission was not convinced. 4 out of 5 acted as if we had all been begging them for further restrictions on our properties. John Mazza got the award for “Most Tone Deaf” by mansplaining that the Commission had to restrict our properties and they couldn’t just send it back to the Council with a suggestion that it be marked DOA. He also took a shot at explaining to we poor ignorant children that we just didn’t understand, and that we would all be better off as a result of his brilliance. He then expanded the noticed scope of the meeting by adding Beachfront properties and capping them at 8,500 Sq. Feet.
Around 12:30AM three of the Commissioners voted to pass a restriction for all homes on lots over 1 acre and all Beachfront properties. Both categories are capped at 8,500 sq. ft. Included in the restriction was a further limitation on how much of the allowable TDSF could be used for the Dwelling. To bleed off opposition they exempted properties under an acre.
John Mazza dissented because it wasn’t tough enough. Jeff Jennings voted against it because it is a dumb idea.
On the afternoon of July 3rdI learned that the City had amended the agenda for the Monday, July 8thmeeting of the full City Council to add an item for a discussion of setting a date for a future meeting to discuss the Planning Commission’s recommendations.
Despite the short notice, over 100 of you showed up to let the Council know that even if we only get 4 days’ notice over a holiday weekend, we are paying attention and expect them to listen to the public comments before deciding to act on the recommendations from the 4 stooges.
At the end of a long evening with lots of powerful testimony the Council majority graciously acknowledged that the community had spoken and that the Planning Commission had failed to listen. Mikke, Skylar, and Rick all apologized to the public for their roles in moving the proposal to the Planning Commission. By a vote of 4-1, with Jefferson dissenting, the City Council voted not to devote any more resources to the proposal.
Frankenstein’s monster is dead, and we can all put our Pitchforks and Torches in the back of the storage locker and go back to our lives and rebuilding Malibu.