Coastal Staff Says No to Request for Overnight Camping Ban

• Commission Report Recommends Approval of S.M. Mtns Conservancy’s Override Version

BY BILL KOENEKER

The California Coastal Commission staff has recommended that the panel deny the proposed Local Coastal Program Amendment submitted by the City of Malibu that includes a prohibition on overnight camping.
Instead, the CCC staff is recommending that the commission approve a competing proposed LCPA override submitted by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
The ban on overnight camping was requested by the Malibu City Council in reaction to strong opposition from the community to a plan proposed by SMMC that included trails connecting coastal canyons and camping in those canyons.
If the commissioners agree with the staff report, the SMMC victory might be short-lived, given some recently published pronouncements by SMMC’s executive director, Joe Edmiston, who has been quoted as expressing concerns about the major economic impacts to Conservancy operations because of the serious financial straits in Sacramento.
The showdown between the SMMC and the City of Malibu is scheduled for June 10 at the Marina Del Rey Hotel in MDR at the afternoon session. The two entities’ submittals are being heard by the commission back to back.
The commission staff has recommended the coastal panel endorse the following findings: “Notwithstanding the city council’s findings that the LCPA would enhance public access and recreation opportunities, the commission finds that prohibiting camping outright throughout the city without any consideration for site-specific environmental or other factors would have the opposite effect, by diminishing public access and recreation opportunities within the city.”
The commission staff also indicated the city’s LCPA would reduce lower cost public access and recreation opportunities and the availability of lower cost overnight accommodations for visitors within the city.
“Without adequate overnight accommodations, including those that are lower cost, the potential of recreational uses is limited to day use by members of the public who live in close proximity to the Santa Monica Mountains. The commission finds that the proposed LUP amendment will diminish the range of potential access and recreational uses in the City of Malibu and is therefore inconsistent with the public access and recreation policies of the Coastal Act,” the staff report adds.
On the other hand, the commission staff noted it has before it an alternative version of the parks plan submitted by the SMMC in its override version, which staff is recommending the commission approve with modifications.
“The revisions are necessary because as submitted the LCP amendment is not adequate to ensure conformity to applicable policies,” the staff report states.
The major revision to the section about overnight camping in the SMMC document is to include language that the low-cost visitor-serving camp facilities include low impact campsites.
“Low impact campsites (and associated support facilities, including where appropriate, picnic tables, potable water, self-contained chemical/composting restrooms, shade trees, water tanks, portable fire suppressing apparatus, and fire-proof cooking stations) are ‘carry-in carry-out’ campsites, accessed by foot or wheelchair and which have an educational or interpretative component, including signage related to the natural resources of the Santa Monica Mountains. Low impact campsites, as defined, constitute a resource dependent use. Access to low impact campsites shall be supported by parking areas and designated ADA drop-offs located in non-Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area.”
When the city denied SMMC’s request, the Conservancy submitted an application for what is called an LCPA override to make its own proposal to the Coastal Commission that includes overnight camping and 32 major events in Ramirez Canyon where the SMMC is headquartered.
Not only has the matter struck a nerve with residents, but the municipality’s actions have reverberated far outside the city’s borders. The CCC meeting is sure to be packed with environmental groups and other organizations viewing Malibu’s stance as an elitist attempt to keep people out.
For their part, Malibuites see the argument fashioned by an element of public safety, since three fires have scorched the community in one year and the year-round threat of a conflagration in a high fire hazard area should be sufficient reason to not allow camping and campfires.