Malibu loses trail ownership fight to MRCA, weighs appeal Play

The city of Malibu is calling a judge's decision in favor of the MRCA on the issue of trail ownership "an adverse ruling."

That is a considerable understatement.

A Superior Court judge in Los Angeles on Tuesday ruled that the city blew it, and waited for way too long, to try to assert ownership of the Winding Way Trail.

34 years after the city was incorporated, the city went to court to try to force its ownership — to take away the trail from the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, the MRCA.

As we reported Wednesday, the trial court judge wrote that the city waited too long. And that the law it was relying on applied only to public streets, not public trails.

The MRCA immediately put out a press release claiming credit for stopping the evil city of Malibu from restricting public access to the mountains.

The city fired back Wednesday.

The city says it filed the lawsuit because of what has been happening on the ground. Trail users have been forced to park along Pacific Coast Highway for lack of adequate parking. Sunset closures have gone unenforced. Trash along the trails has gone uncollected.

Malibu claims that its objective from the outset has been to ensure that public trails within Malibu's borders are well-maintained and responsibly managed for everyone who uses them.

And they say that the MRCA for more than a year refused to work collaboratively with the city to resolve these concerns.

That door has not closed. The city remains willing to work with MRCA toward real improvements in trail safety, parking, closure enforcement, and vegetation management.

The Malibu City Council has not yet met to discuss this legal catastrophe.

It should be noted that the court decision came from a trial judge, and in his ruling, Judge Michael Whitaker based his ruling on interpretations of state law that might easily be overturned by the state Court of Appeal, according to some court observers.

The city statement says the City Council will review the court's ruling and decide on an appropriate course of action in the coming weeks.

The major issue is the safety of people parking along PCH and crossing the highway to reach the waterfall trail. Apparently, the MRCA's answer has been to put up one "pedestrian crossing" warning sign in each direction on the state highway.