CCC Requests Lighting Plan Extension

• High School Football Games Will Be Played During Daylight

BY SUZANNE GULDIMANN

At its September meeting in Eureka, the California Coastal Commission is expected to approve a time extension of up to one year on a Local Coastal Plan Amendment submitted by the City of Malibu that would permit lighting of the main athletic field at Malibu High School.

According to the report, on July 22, the executive director "determined that the City's amendment submittal was in proper order and legally adequate to comply with the submittal requirements of Coastal Act. However, commission staff is now requesting an extension "in order to allow adequate time to review and analyze the amendment."

In March, the Malibu City Council unanimously approved amendments to the city's municipal code and Local Coastal Program to open the door to permitting athletic field lighting at Malibu High School's main field, following the Coastal Commission's unanimous rejection of a lighting plan proposed by the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District last fall.

The council expanded on the number of nights recommended by the city's Planning Commission to accommodate nighttime practices at MHS Monday through Thursday to 7:30 p.m. during Pacific Standard Time, which generally begins on the first Sunday of November and ends on the second Sunday of March. The council also approved a maximum of 18 Friday night games ending at 10:30 p.m.

The council also agreed to eliminate the word  "temporary."

 Several council members suggested that permanent lighting could potentially have less of an environmental impact than temporary, removable lighting.

Observers have said that, because the plan submitted by the city greatly exceeds the number of nights rejected by the earlier SMMUSD attempt, it is unlikely to receive CCC approval as written.

Athletic field lighting at the school is currently prohibited in the City of Malibu's LCP and the municipal code.

The Malibu High School property is also subject to a deed restriction prohibiting lighting at the campus that was a requirement imposed by Coastal as part of a 1999 Coastal Development Permit issued to the school.

Prior to 2009, unpermitted temporary lighting had been in use at the school for a limited number of football and homecoming activities for six years. A district plan, unveiled in 2008 as part of the Malibu campus' Measure BB-funded improvements, that included installation of permanent lights for a maximum of 200-plus nights a year, generated public outcry from west Malibu residents, and touched off a series of chain reactions that observers say has polarized the community.

In an apparent effort to circumvent the City of Malibu's authority and take its request for a night lighting permit directly to the Coastal Commission, the Santa Monica Malibu Unified School District Board of Education passed a resolution in 2009 exempting the district from the City of Malibu's municipal code. However, the district's attempt to obtain permission for 14 nights of lighting at the Malibu campus was unanimously denied by the coastal agency, on the basis that it violated the LCP.

The district then turned to the City of Malibu, to attempt to revise the LCP. The amendment submitted by the Malibu City Council was developed by city staff with input from a series of public meetings by the Zoning Ordinance Revision and Code Enforcement Subcommittee and the city's Planning Commission.

As part of the LCP  amendment, a Conditional Use Permit would be required before the school district could proceed with a lighting schedule. Any changes to the initial agreement would require a new CUP application. The school district has exempted itself from Malibu municipal code but must comply with the LCP, the council said, allowing the city to maintain local control over lighting use.

This year, the football team will be playing home games during the day on Saturdays.

 "Due to the well-publicized plight of field lighting at Malibu High (a.k.a. Friday Night Lights), home games will be on Saturdays, with the JV starting at 10 a.m. followed by the Varsity kick-off at 1 p.m.," writes Malibu City Councilmember and football advocate Laura Rosenthal.

The first game of the fall season is Sept. 4, at MHS.