Mayor Urges Council to Consider
Purchase of Land at Point Dume
• Possible Site of City Hall,
Teen/Senior Center, Library
Since the population center of Malibu is
at, or near, Point Dume, would it make sense to locate more
municipal services in the area?
The Malibu City Council is poised to begin
that discussion when it looks at an item on next week’s
agenda on whether to negotiate for the acquisition of a nearly
10-acre site in the Point Dume area.
The property is located on the land side of
Pacific Coast Highway near Heathercliff Road. It is tucked
in between the former Fig Tree Ranch, now known as Vital Zuman,
and the Malibu Stage Company, which is housed in the old
Lutheran Church.
The property is currently utilized as a
plant nursery and is owned by a longtime Malibu family that is
moving out of the area. The property is zoned
Rural-Residential.
“The purpose of getting it into the
public arena is to find out more about the wants and needs of
the community,” said Mayor Pamela Conley Ulich, who
emphasized “there is nothing set in stone,”
but views the item as exploratory. “It might turn
out to be ideal for some of the items that have been talked
about by the community, including a teen center and/or senior
center, satellite library, sheriff’s substation or
possibly a lumber site,” she said.
The mayor indicated she hopes to convince
the council it is time to discuss the feasibility of building
more infrastructure in the west end of Malibu, particularly
around Point Dume.
The staff report indicates the cost of a
real estate appraisal and phase one environmental assessment
will be about $200,000.
The property is currently listed for $4.9
million, according to the staff report. The mayor said she
believed any land deal would cost less than acreage in the
Civic Center area which is selling for over $2 million per
acre.
If the city separates from the county
library system and purchases the vacant land, municipal
officials could conceivably build a new 15,000-square-foot
municipal library. Money could come from $2 million set
aside by the county for the city and an ongoing stream of
revenue from property taxes earmarked for the library.
A similar arrangement could be worked out
if a city hall would be built on the land. The city has set
aside nearly $2 million from a fund earmarked for a city hall,
and the revenue stream for paying back land acquisition and
construction costs could come from replacing the rent the
city currently pays at about $700,000 per year.
Other potential uses for the land could
include building a teen center or senior center, an emergency
operations center or a sheriff’s sub-station. The uses
are considered a priority by city officials, but obtaining
funding to acquire and develop the property for such uses might
be extremely problematic. There are no cash reserves set aside
for those uses and no streams of revenue to help offset paying
back acquisition and construction costs.
“We could look at certificates of
participation,” added the mayor, referring to money that
could be borrowed from the Malibu lumber shopping center rents.
