Council To Vote On Legality of Western Malibu PCH Traffic Cork

The convoluted traffic safety issue for Pacific Coast Highway will take another turn tonight at the city council meeting. 

Malibu’s city council will supposedly decide tonight on the legality of whether to install two traffic circles and a half mile of narrow roadway … replacing a 55 mile an hour straightaway west of Broad Beach.

But no final vote is scheduled for tonight.

It’s just the latest chapter of a complicated and confusing decision-making process on what to do to make PCH safer.

To review… Caltrans is supposedly about to release a master plan to redesign the entire 22 miles of Pacific Coast Highway in the city.

This was rushed through the state agency after four women were killed on the side of PCH 2 1/2 years ago.

Then the fire happened.

The master plan got delayed.

The public pressure continued… And county supervisor Lindsey Horvath to jumpstart the safety effort by designating $1 million in county money to build two traffic circles and narrow PCH between Encino Canyon Road and the Western Broad Beach Road intersection.

In effect… put a gigantic traffic, cork of one lane and 35 mph in each direction for a half mile of the highway at the cities western end.

Caltrans quickly endorsed that… Pointing out that speed reduction was the number one request from Malibu residents.

City engineers began designing and laying out the project.

But the city council has never decided whether that was a good idea.

Are those traffic circles at the right location in Malibu?

How come traffic circles like that we never discussed in the lengthy public meetings that Caltrans held when they were drawing up the master plan?

Will those circles delay, emergency evacuation during fires?
None of those questions have been answered.

The city council two weeks ago approved permits for the traffic circles and lane narrowing … but made it very clear that that was merely a legal formality. 

And it had yet to decide if the traffic circles were a good idea at that location.

The actual decision will come at some point in the future.

The meeting is tonight at the city council chambers … and it is scheduled to be streamed.

Light Rain Falls As County Plans To Plow Zuma Underpass –

Light rain fell over the Malibu Sunday morning … but it was gone by sunrise. 

Rainfall amounts varied from point 15 inches at Malibu Surfrifder Beach … to point 4 inches of rain here at Trancas. 

Almost a half inch of rain was measured up at the top of the mountains. 

Clearly … not enough to start any water flow into the canyons …

Which brings us to Zuma Creek. 

L A County plans to start bringing in heavy machinery to clear the Zuma Creek underpass today.

The county plans to start actually moving gravel and rocks off the concrete roadway tomorrow … and they tentatively plan to reopen the road next week.

It’s not clear why the seemingly simple work will take five working days to accomplish.

But there will be a biology team there to make sure the adjacent Zuma Creek bed is not damaged.

Malibu activists were left shaking their heads in disbelief two weeks ago when Caltrans officials said there was no way that the road would be reopened. 

Pressure on L A County from Malibu activists Merril May and council member Haylynn Conrad prompted county supervisor Lindsay Horvath’s office to intercede.

The county Department of Beaches & Harbors says it will continue to monitor the underpass closely and measure water levels in the low point of the roadway each Monday and Thursday.  

The county says they need to make sure that the underpass roadway stays safe to drive through. 

The underpass is a vital link for people accessing Zuma Beach … or people trying to exit the Westward Beach Road onto PCH. 

When it floods … drivers are forced out at the dangerous intersection … up above the creek.

A permanent solution was proposed by the city and Caltrnas in 2015 … a short access road connecting Westward Beach to the Busch Drive signal.

But there has been no progress on that. 

Council To Hold Closed Door Session On Lawsuit Against City of LA

This afternoon … the city council goes into secret session to discuss its lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles … the state of California … the MRCA and other agencies … for causing the Palisades Fire.

The MRCA is the mountains, resource and conservation authority… The parks agency that may have helped spread the fire by failing to cut weeds on its property near the fires origin in Temescal Canyon.

One tenth of Malibu burned down … 7 people in and near Malibu were killed … and the city government is out tens of millions of dollars in actual damages ….

One of the agencies being sued by the city is California State Parks. 

Ironically… California State Parks is also scheduled to appear before the city council tonight at 6:30 to talk about their fire prevention efforts.

State state parks owns much of the land outside the city limits… Not to mention the Malibu lagoon and Malibu Bluffs Park area.

There have been several fires at Bluffs Park… On state land… They have claimed houses in Malibu.

That report is scheduled to be delivered at 6:30 tonight and it will be streamed online.

SCE Bills Statewide Up 39% Due To Wildfires

The escalating cost of wildfires now adds around 40 dollars to the average monthly power bill for residential power companies … according to a government report.

Wildfire-related charges now account for 17% of monthly charges from Southern California Edison.

The California Earthquake Authority manages the accumulating money.

There is $21 billion dollars right now in the state’s wildfire insurance fund to pay claims against utilities.

But Southern California Edison has its eyes on that money.

The utility does not anywhere near the 50 billion dollars or so it may need … to offset claims from last year’s fires in Altadena … LA and Malibu.

Grossman Civil Trial To Start With Jury Selection

The civil trial against Rebecca Grossman for killing two little boys in a crosswalk just over the hill is scheduled to begin this morning.

And this time, her accomplice and former boyfriend is also on the hook.

Grossman is currently serving in prison on murder convictions for killing Jacob and Mark Iskander … as their parents pulled their two other sons out of the path of two speeding cars.

The cars were  driven by Rebecca Grossman and her boyfriend at the time … former professional baseball player Scott Erickson.

They wer eapparently playing high speed vehicle games after downing cocktails and heading to her home. 

The survivors are suing … jury selection is supposed to begin today.

The judge is already mighty angry at her … 

Superior Court Judge Huey Cotton told attorneys that Grossman had sent the judge a letter.

That is very much against court rules. 

The judge did not open the letter … but ordered it to be sealed.

Cotton called Grossman, 62, trying to directly contact the court “absolutely unacceptable.” He said he would set a hearing on possible sanctions.

YIMBY Suit Against Malibu Fire Safety Waiver Filed

A group that wants more housing in California has filed suit against the governor  … over his emergency orders for Malibu and the Palisades after last year’s fire. 

The governor has allowed local governments lie the City of Malibu the discretion to limit or suspend certain parts of SB 9 … the law that allows lot splits … auxiliary development unites … and other increases in housing density. 

SB 9 allows property owners in single-family neighborhoods to split lots and build up to two homes and two Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) on what was previously a single parcel. 

The aim was to increase the amount and affordability of housing.

Members of YIMBY … a pro-housing density group … say SB 9 is essential to add urgently needed housing.

But opponents say increased density in fire risk areas like Malibu is dangerous. 

They have filed suit … claiming that the gover’s suspension of SB 9 in the Malibu fire area was an unconstitutional overreach.

The Malibu city Council will discuss the lawsuit in this afternoon’s secret session.

Baywatch Kerfluffle Ends, Quality TV Show Taping Resumes

An emergency meeting about Baywatch .. the TV show … of all things.

Last week … there was an emergency kerfluffle about the shows permit to tape new episodes on Venice Beach.

A member of the production crew had posted on Facebook… Anonymously… that government restrictions had forced the production out of Venice.

That turned into a gale force crapstorm by the end of the week,

LA County supervisor Lindsey Horvath and Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park convened an emergency Baywatch crisis meeting at Fox Studios.

The production company agreed to seek coastal commission permits for extended production hours at its set at the end of Venice Boulevard.

The city and county agreed to expand the use of parking spaces on the beach to meet production needs.

The city will provide an on-site concierge point of contact to smooth things out.

And the county will consider a new ordinance to allow limited drone camera use.

A joint communique was issued.

”The city, county and production team are deeply committed to the success of this marquee effort.”

Score one for Hollywood. 

Jellyfish And Stingrays Make Early Appearance In Warm Water 

The water temperature this morning at Zuma Beach is 64 … 

That is 7 degrees above the historical norm.

Jellyfish have appeared in the ocean …. That’s usually a summertime event. 

The big warm blob … that unusual mass of warm water just off the California coast … is on he shore this year.

Accuweather … a private weather forecasting service … warns that the developing El Niño could strengthen into a significant “Super El Niño” event in the months ahead.

Impacts could begin to emerge as soon as this summer.

El Niño occurs when sea surface temperatures rise above average across the central and eastern Pacific … near the equator. 

A super El Niño might bring big storms to the West Coast and a strong southern storm track into Southern California this fall.

And although the ocean warming expected to develop this year … it will be next year when the highest global temperatures linked to it would occur. 

The big warm blob floating off of the West Coast could trigger a marine heat wave that is separate from El Niño.

“It will likely bring spotty thunderstorms into California this summer, perhaps more meaningful rain from a few East Pacific tropical storms as well,” Merrill said.

However, those thunderstorms also carry risks.

“Keep in mind thunderstorms can produce a bit of lightning that leads to wildfires as well,” he added.

And that marine heat wave may blow out this year’s June gloom.

Accuweather is predicting that the number of days in June with low clouds that are stubborn along and inland from the coast in Southern California won’t live up to its full potential this year.

And this summer will likely feel more muggy than normal.

As for the jellyfish …. The ones found off Southern California are usually smaller in scale and have a more mild sting than other species found around the world.

But they can cause pain and a rash.

Detached tentacles washed up on the sand remain active and can still deliver a painful sting if touched or stepped on.

Severe cases can cause fever and muscle cramps … which should prompt a victim to see a doctor. 

LA County Fire Department lifeguards are warning beachgoers that stingray incidents are also on the rise as ocean temperatures climb.