MRCA Proposes, And Then Drops, Running Shuttles Up Private Roads In 2 Malibu Canyons

The MRCA has quietly brought up, and then dropped, a plan to run shuttle buses up two private roads to the trailheads at the top of both Winding Way and Via Escondido.

The proposal quietly appeared on this week’s agenda for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Advisory Council … open of the interlocking boards controlling the Mountain Recreation and Conservation Authority.

The $165,000 budget item was to fund weekend and holiday shuttle service to the two trailheads.  The plan was to use two vans to run shuttles every 10 minutes on a loop to both trailheads.

Just as quietly, it was removed from the agenda.  No vote was taken, and a spokesman for the agency says it will not comment on the proposal or what it was dropped. 

The sudden reversal comes after a lawsuit was filed last week by the City of Malibu, claiming that the city owns public trails within its city limits

The MRCA does not own the pavement that the shuttle vans were to use … except for the half mile stretch of PCH connecting the two streets.  Rather … MCRA clams to own easements that cross private land to reach the lots that they use for public access.

The city of Malibu lawsuits cites state law, and claims ownership of those easements passed to the city when it incorporated in 1993.

MRCA has promised to vigorously fight those claims … but outside law firms hired by landowners say the state law is clear … the land went to the city ownership when Malibu was incorporated. 

The MRCA shuttle van route was to enter PCH at Winding Way … make a U-turn on PCH  just 200 feet later … and then pull up to pick up passengers from a driveway at 27808 PCH. 

No mention in the proposal … if MRCA has the right to use that driveway as a passenger waiting area … 

It appears that MRCA was simply planning to help itself to more private property, this time adjacent to PCH where driveways meet the state highway. 

At least two pedestrians have been killed in that precise location on PCH. 

Shuttle stops would also have been added at the intersections of PCH at Winding Way and PCH at Via Escondido.  No pull outs or facilities for van loading were proposed.

The vans would not have travelled to any parking areas outside of the local area … but would have relied on on-street parking along PCH.

Caltrans has called that parking unsafe … and has in the past called for at least half of it to be eliminated … to provide room for safe walking paths on both sides of PCH.

The MRCA plan did not call for any safe pedestrian facilities either. 

The plan went before a meeting of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and Advisory Council two nights ago.  No recording of that meeting is publicly posted.  But a spokesman Wednesday said “no action was taken and no discussion was had.

“I have no further information about the project at this point.”

The MRCA’s official spokeswoman, Dash Solarz, has not responded to any request for information from KBUU radio since 2018, when the radio station refused an MRCA demand that it retract an article that was factually correct.

There is no mention in the original MRCA proposal of any coordination with Caltrans or the city of Malibu for making the shuttle stops … crosswalks … or any other pedestrian safe along PCH.

And there is no additional public parking … bathrooms or trash cans proposed in the van shuttle item.

That is a major bone of contention with the city … which claims in its lawsuit that MRCA is violating environmental laws by overcrowding the waterfall trail without providing safe parking or adequate facilities.

On a broader scale, the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy has approved giving its sister organization … the MRCA … 1.3 million dollars in state parks bond money.  It will go to pay for stationing staff at high use areas along the coast and what they call “visitor-facing trail resources in addition to ongoing maintenance and patrol.”

A staff report says the state money is especially needed due to anticipated increase in use due to the impact of the Palisades fire and federal park closures.

[This post was UPDATED this Wednesday afternoon, after it was first broadcast this morning.  It UPDATES that the MRCA dropped the proposal Monday, before it came up for a vote, information that was not disclosed by the MRCA until Wednesday, when KBUU asked about it.]