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Malibu surfside news | October 12, 2017 | 3
malibu city Council
City hires firm to probe proposed FEMA maps
With FEMA’s appeal
deadline nearing,
council expects
report in two weeks
lauren coughlin, Editor
The clock is ticking.
With the Nov. 6 deadline
to appeal the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency’s proposed floodplain
maps approaching,
the council received a staff
update on the topic Monday,
Oct. 9.
The City has hired consulting
firm Moffatt and
Nichol to investigate the
matter, and the firm is expected
to bring its findings
to the council’s Oct. 23
meeting.
Moffatt and Nichol similarly
challenged the newly
proposed FEMA floodplain
maps in Ventura and Dana
Point.
Firm representative Aaron
Holloway noted during
the meeting that some
sections of the Dana Point
maps were revised, while
the firm’s recommendations
and comments are not
expected to be accepted in
Ventura.
All appeals must be science-based.
“We’ll at least be able to
explain why the numbers
are what they are, whether
we agree with them or don’t
agree with them,” Holloway
explained of what the
firm will study in Malibu.
Assistant Public Works
Director Rob DuBoux said
that the firm’s report will
then serve as the City’s
compass as to whether or
not it should appeal the proposed
maps.
“If an appeal is accepted
by FEMA, changes are
made to the Preliminary
Floodplain Maps and a new
90-day appeal period commences,”
an agenda supplement
noted. “If appeals
are not accepted, the maps
are finalized by FEMA.”
At the Malibu City
Council’s previous meeting
on Sept. 25, the council
and members of the public
asked for clarity on how
the maps were created. The
proposed maps include elevation
rises between 2 and
18 feet, as well as some
lower elevations, when
compared with the existing
2008 maps, an agenda
supplement noted.
The council had further
hoped to see a FEMA representative
at the Oct. 9
meeting, but that wish was
not granted.
“Unfortunately they’re all
in Florida and Houston and
Puerto Rico working on all
the devastation they have
had out there,” DuBoux
told the council. “ ... They
wish that they could be
here tonight, but, obviously,
they’re a little busy.”
FEMA did reportedly offer
an olive branch, though,
telling DuBoux that the
council can relay questions
to him, and FEMA will respond
to him.
The questions from the
public and council alike appear
to be plentiful.
“The maps assume water
is going to behave in a
way that’s totally foreign to
me, that we’d have mounds
of water that are 15 feet
above adjacent properties,”
Malibu Realtor Paul
Grisanti said during public
comment.
Round it up
A brief recap of action from the
Monday, Oct. 9 meeting of the
Malibu City Council
• The Malibu City Council unanimously
supported an ordinance
that bans self-regenerating water
softeners in the Civic Center
area. City Attorney Christi Hogin
defined the area as “the area
served by or from properties
connected to the Civic Center
wastewater treatment facility.”
• The council delayed a decision
on Coastal Development Permit
extensions and expirations. The
Grisanti pinpointed Broad
Beach and Malibu Road as
two particularly curious areas.
Malibu resident Lloyd
Ahern also expressed skepticism
of the maps.
“There’s so many questions
to be asked so I just
hope we really get into this,
because it’s beyond not
fair,” he said.
Any developers who apply
for permits in the near
future will receive information
from the City regarding
the proposed FEMA
floodplain maps, and projects
will be evaluated based
on the proposed maps.
Otherwise, an agenda
supplement noted, “property
owners could be subject
to substantially increased
flood insurance premiums
or possibly denied flood insurance.”
Still, Mayor Skylar Peak
noted that the uncertainty
regarding the maps created
a rather frustrating limbo,
as he said the maps could
show a 10-foot difference a
year from now.
item is expected to return at its
Oct. 23 meeting.
• Councilmember Laura Rosenthal
and Mayor Pro Tem Rick Mullen
were unanimously elected to
a newly formed school district
separation ad hoc committee.
• The council unanimously voted
in support of a motion brought
forward by Rosenthal to send a
letter asking the Federal Administration
to protect Malibu’s
coast “by banning new offshore
oil and gas drilling, fracking,
and other well stimulation in
Peak added that it was
“very hard to understand
the threshold of difference”
in some areas.
Councilmember Jefferson
“Zuma Jay” Wagner
further added that Broad
Beach could see changes
due to the proposed sand
replenishment project.
If adopted as is, the maps
would go into effect on August
2018.
City talks more plastic
product bans
On the heels of its expanded
polystyrene ban,
the City is now exploring
other ways to limit plastic
products sold in Malibu.
The council unanimously
supported the creation of
a proposal that would ban
plastic straws. Peak proposed
an implementation
timeline of June 2018, and
the policy will return to the
council for final approval.
Councilmember Lou La
Monte said banning plastic
straws “makes a tremendous
amount of sense,”
and Councilmember Laura
Rosenthal said she strongly
supported it, saying it was
an “obvious problem.”
Assistant City Attorney
Jane Abzug noted that Seattle,
Washington, recently
banned plastic straws, with
a July 2018 implementation
date.
The City’s existing polystyrene
ban, which went
into effect this January,
does include the prohibition
of polystyrene straws,
though Environmental Sustainability
Director Craig
George said compliance
is still in the works with
some fast-food vendors in
Malibu.
“It’s a cultural shift,” he
said. “It takes some time to
do, but we’ve been in touch
with [the] McDonald’s corporate
office.”
The City also received
direction to research the
possibility of banning plastic
beverage bottle sales
in the City. That proposal
drew concerns from representatives
of the American
Beverage Association and
federal and state waters off
the California coast, and urging
that no new federal oil and gas
leasing be permitted in all U.S.
waters, including off the coast of
California.”
• Councilmember Jefferson “Zuma
Jay” Wagner, who is also a
Malibu Adamson House Foundation
board member, announced
that the San Salvador replica
ship will no longer be visiting
Malibu Pier this weekend due to
a perceived anchoring issue. The
board hopes to try to reschedule
the visit for next year, he said.
International Bottled Water
Association, each of which
sent a representative to the
meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem Rick
Mullen said he hoped the
City would work with those
organizations if and when it
moves forward with a plastic
bottle ban.
Peak noted that glass,
aluminum and paper containers
are readily available
for most products.
“Some manufacturers
don’t offer it, but they will
adapt,” he said, adding that
the amount of plastic in the
ocean was “unacceptable.”
The council also gave
staff the OK to budget for
water-filling stations at
City parks. City Manager
Reva Feldman said the
items would be added to the
midyear budget.
Lastly, the council discussed
the lack of available
recycling spots within the
city. Wagner proposed that
the staff explore potential
locations for a recycling
facility.