Stakes High for Owners, City Over Crummer Property

Poles with orange-red canvas have dotted the bluff above Malibu's Civic Center for months, showing plans for a handful of two-story upscale houses. The proposed housing track marks the second try at developing the land in the past few years.

The key to the future of the 24-acres, known as the Crummer property, may lie in its complex past, which includes a decade-old land transfer and elements of the California Coastal Act.

Five, Mediterranean-style homes

Bordering the Crummer property are Malibu Bluffs Park to the west, Pacific Coast Highway to the north, and privately owned land to the east and south. According to the city of Malibu, the land is zoned as planned development, with a mix of residential and recreation.

Plans call for five, two story, Mediterranean-style homes with a basement, onsite wastewater treatment system, swimming pool and spa, fountains and a vehicle entry gate. Some of the homes include a detached guest house, cabana and gym.

For years, the city of Malibu has eyed the property for a park and ball fields, but was never able to purchase the land.

The current owners have dedicated 1.74 acres to the city of Malibu for recreation in the east and northeast section of the site. The city plans to build a 50-space parking lot and recreation facilities.

According to Robert Gold, a partner and project manager, $1 million is being given to the city for the development of recreation facilities on the parcel.

"It reflects maybe more than what our costs would have been. The original proposal was we would build the ball field and the bleachers," Gold said. He  said the city will have the discretion to decide what it wants to build there, especially with the proposed land swap of Bluffs Park and Charmlee between the city and the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.

The project will also include other mitigation fees, up to $2 million, due to the property's complex history.

Inconsistent zoning

Deep in Malibu's Local Coastal Program (LCP), a pair of documents that establishes the rules for coastal development in Malibu, lies an inconsistency.

According to the California Coastal Commission, the land is zoned as planned development, but with a caveat.

“It’s still planned development, but in the LCP there is a policy associated with the planned development designation that talks about this agreement and if there is no agreement then the designation shall be commercial visitor serving,” said Deanna Christensen, a coastal program analyst.

That agreement stems from negotiations in the early 2000s when the city was adopting its Local Coastal Program. The city was in negotiations between the Crummer Trust and the Department of State Parks to place baseball fields on the land to allow for up to eight single-family homes. The California Coastal Commission adopted a policy in the LUP that included a reference to the negotiations.

However, the agreement between Crummer and State Parks was never reached. Instead the state transferred 93 acres of Malibu Bluffs Park to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. In 2006, the city purchased 10 acres of Bluffs Park for athletic fields.

With no agreement, the land reverted from a mix of residential and recreation to commercial visitor-serving, Christensen said.

The California Coastal Act prioritizes lower cost, visitor-serving and recreation facilities, including overnight accommodations, over residential uses. Malibu's own LUP states, "Lower cost visitor and recreational facilities shall be protected, encouraged, and, where feasible, provided. Developments providing public recreational opportunities are preferred."

Because of the commercial visitor-serving designation, the project will require a LCP amendment and mitigation.

Original project

When the original Local Coastal Program amendment first went before the California Coastal Commission in 2010 to fix the inconsistency, commissioners asked for a $2 million fee to be used to renovated accommodations at the Topanga Ranch Motel in Topanga State Park.

"Visitor serving is higher priority and that is why mitigation was necessary to even allow it," Christensen said.

But the city of Malibu never adopted the original LCP amendment and allowed it to expire, partly because commissioners also threw in a last-minute requirement that barred a gate at the community and required passive recreation on the site.

'Obsolete policies'

The city took no action and allowed the original LCP amendment to expire for a number of reasons, including its belief that the $2 million mitigation fee was not necessary, according to Joyce Parker Bozylinski, the city's planning director.

"We believe they are obsolete policies," Bozylinski said of the commercial visitor-serving designation.

Instead, the city is working on a new Local Coastal Program Amendment and a zoning amendment that will include development standards. A draft environmental impact report was released Wednesday.

Gold said he believes the second time around the project will get approved.

"I’m hopeful that everybody has a better understanding of the project and we will explain it clearly and it will go forward and everybody will get what is reasonable," Gold said.

While he is willing to pay a mitigation fee, he said he hopes it is not more than the $2 million from the first round.

"Our goal is to work with coastal and the staff and the commissioners to come up with an amount that is reasonable and makes sense and allows the project to move forward," Gold said.

He said he understands the Coastal Commission's stance on commercial visitor-serving zoning to a point.

"This was the project that was always contemplated on the property. It shouldn’t be coming as a surprise to anybody," Gold said. " ... People can disagree. My job, and what we’ve been doing, is working closely to respect their opinion and find a solution that addresses their concerns."

Coastal Commission staff, including Christensen, have already met with representatives from the city of Malibu.

"We’ve gone through this exercise before," Christensen said. "It’s going to need a whole fresh review."

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