Malibu asks state to protect PCH, not private owners Play

PCH may be falling into the ocean in the Malibu fire zone — but it's not fair to make beachfront property owners pay to support the road.

That's the argument being presented by the city of Malibu, in a polite letter to the state of California, which owns the highway. The proposed letter is being presented to the city council for approval or changes on Monday night.

The city manager calls it a "respectful submission" to Caltrans — a request that the state take responsibility for preventing the road from falling across private property into the advancing ocean.

The state has longstanding law behind it, law that says property owners are responsible for shoring up land on their property if it's next to a state highway.

Last year's fire took out about 300 houses between the ocean and the highway in Malibu. Many of those houses had wooden or concrete retaining walls along the ocean, preventing waves from damaging the highway. Those structures are gone.

The highway appears to be in jeopardy to wave action, although state engineers say they are not worried about any immediate loss inside the City of Malibu.

Malibu is arguing that the state should not assume private property owners to be responsible for stabilizing or protecting the state highway. The city notes that the 300 burned-down houses are all on different schedules for rebuilding, and that many will simply remain vacant for years.

Side note on all this — there is a section of PCH east of Malibu, near the Getty Villa Museum, where the state is very worried about wave action taking out the highway. This is at Ratner Beach, near Mastro's restaurant and Coastline Drive. But that's outside Malibu and there are no homeowners there.

The state is scrambling to make a deal with the Coastal Commission to put in rocks to save PCH there. We should also point out that the only major water supply for Malibu is under the pavement of that threatened section of roadway.

State engineers have told the city that the section of PCH just east of Malibu and west of Getty Villa is their biggest worry right now. They have also said there are no sections of PCH inside city limits that they are worried about. But some eastern Malibu residents say that's not true.

In its proposed letter, the city is asking the governor for a comprehensive and transparent assessment of Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. The city wants the state to identify segments where the loss of structures and damaged shoreline protection systems may have undermined the highway, or left it vulnerable to wave damage.

The city's proposed Caltrans letter goes up for discussion next Monday night.