Native plant nursery, pollinator garden proposed for Legacy Park Play

Two changes may be coming to Legacy Park.

A native plant nursery may go into an empty corner of the park down near the Malibu Coast Veterinary Hospital. That's a city-owned building on PCH near the lumberyard. It's a small corner of Legacy Park not used now.

Legacy Park, of course, is the city's environmental keystone in the heart of Malibu. One corner of Legacy Park used to be used for seepage pits for an underground sewage system, which were taken out of service when the sewers were connected there.

A charity group wants to fence off this one-acre section of park and use it to grow baby plants in pots. The site would be surrounded by some sort of fence. The plants would sit in pots on tables.

The concept goes before the City of Malibu Parks Commission in one week, on Oct. 15, and eventually the City Council.

And there's a request from a familiar name to build a memorial bench and a garden in Legacy Park to promote the growth of bees and other pollinators. The Wallis Annenberg Legacy Foundation is offering to pay for a native pollinator garden inside the park and add a new bench near Legacy Park's retention basin.

The foundation has provided a $50,000 donation to the city for the park enhancements — new plants, signage, bench materials, and labor.

Now there's a problem with this, though. The City Council has a policy that allows people to donate memorial benches under very tight design restrictions in some city parks, but not in Legacy Park.

If the City Parks Commission recommends the Legacy Park enhancements, the recommendation will go on to the City Council for final approval.