Huge Uproar Expected At City Council Tonight – Then Comes The Work

Malibu’s city council will meet tonight … expect a huge uproar.

Many Malibu residents are seething with anger over the perceived mishandling of the fire disaster.

The massive traffic jam on P C H in the sudden evacuation.

The lack of fire trucks in Malibu.

The lack of reinforcements.

And most of all … perhaps … the unbending evacuation orders that prevented food gas and other supplies from being brought in to those who stayed behind to fight the fire.

The public comments section of the meeting may last for hours.

But after that … the city council has some enormous decisions to make.

Besides declaring a local emergency … the city manager wants permission to hire a FEMA consulting firm … to deal with the reams of paperwork that the federal government Will require to be dealt with to get disaster relief.

The tidal wave of pending reconstruction permits Will require additional help at the city planning department… according to the city manager.

The city estimates that 443 properties in Malibu have destroyed structures … a

nd many residents who have lost their homes have already expressed a desire to move forward with the rebuilding process as soon as possible.

The day before the fire … City Hall had almost 800 remodelling or construction permits in the pipeline. 

The City doesn’t have enough people.

Te city manager wants to hire a company to deal with the overflow.

And the city is worried about houses that were burned  … which violate the current Local Coastal Plan … or L C P.

Many houses in Malibu could not be reconstructed in the same way … under the Coastal Commission LCP approved in 2004.

The city will have to approve grandfathering those nonconforming houses …. allowing them to violate the LCP provisions.

And that will have to be approved by the state Coastal Commission.

And the city will consider an emergency ordinance banning price gouging for rental units.

With hundreds of Malibu residents forced out of their houses … there are reports that rents have suddenly skyrocketed.

The city is proposing to limit rent increases to 10% of what rents were before the fire.

The ordinance would also prohibit price gouging for goods and services as well.

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People using leaf blowers to clear ash and debris are generating complaints.

Gas powered leaf blowers are already illegal in the city of Malibu … a law that is ignored on a daily basis.

But electric powered leaf blowers are okay.

That’s a problem in the fire area … wear new clouds of ash are the last thing the people need.

At the city council meeting tonight … an ordinance banning the use of electric powered leaf blowers Will be decided on.

The electric blowers would be banned west of  Malibu Canyon Road … and it would be a temporary ordinance.

The ban on gas powered blowers … the big loud ones … would continue.

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And in an unrelated matter … the city council will vote on spending 50 thousand dolalrs for a lawyer to deal with the Federal Aviation Administration over loud jet aircraft being rerouted over Malibu.

The meeting starts at 6:30 tonight.

KBUU News will be live blogging.

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