Parks Commission rejects land swap, endorses soccer fields at Chili Cookoff site Play

Any talk of a land swap at the Chili Cookoff site to help facilitate a proposed hotel has zero support at Malibu City Hall. And a proposal for a parking garage to support commuter parking on Point Dume? Also shot down.

Those are among the recommendations from the Malibu Parks and Recreation Commission, which met last night to consider what to do with the city's vacant parks land.

At the Civic Center, the vague land swap proposal had come from private land owners. They wanted to swap their vacant lots on Cove Center Way west of Stewart Ranch Road with the city-owned lot east of Stewart Ranch Road. That would make their land next to City Hall more valuable — they plan a hotel there. The city would have ended up with a bigger property, but much of that land is undevelopable wetland.

No one spoke in favor of the proposal at Tuesday's Parks and Recreation Commission meeting. And the commission hated it.

Instead, the Parks Commission voted to endorse two large soccer fields for the lot east of Stewart Ranch Road. That would be the Ioki Park site, the big vacant lot also known as the Chili Cookoff site.

But the parks commissioners do not like the city staff proposal to put some city parking lots at the upper end of the park. The city had proposed putting in an impound lot for towed-away cars, and also a parking lot for city maintenance vehicles that have to be parked somewhere. The city is currently renting parking spaces for its contractor's equipment at a cost of $108,000 a year.

Big debate: over whether a city tow yard and a city maintenance yard belong at the site. Parks commissioners said they were not sure the city really needed an impound yard. Their colleagues over at the Malibu Public Safety Commission have been trying to find a permanent spot for a tow-away yard in Malibu for decades.

Right now, the city can only operate a temporary tow-away yard when Malibu High School is on vacation in the summer. This was apparently lost on the parks commissioners.

In attendance at the meeting, but silent: city council members Marianne Riggins and Haylynn Conrad.

Back on the commission, there was disagreement over whether to put a fence between the soccer field and two busy streets. One commissioner said no fences — small animals need to get onto the street near the park. Another commissioner said preventing an injured kid is much more important. City staff said they would come up with a fence with openings for small animals.

And what about the "Triangle Lot" — the vacant land surrounded by PCH, Webb Way and Civic Center Way? The Palisades/Malibu Chamber of Commerce had proposed a Malibu welcome center down at the Triangle Lot.

Bad idea, said the parks commissioners. They want the entire lot used for parking, maybe with a shuttle bus stop to ferry people around the Civic Center and pier-area businesses.

As for the proposed Point Dume Recreation Center: one unanimous agreement was to downsize the proposed three-level parking garage — make it smaller — by moving some required parking space to the Civic Center.

When Metro gave money to the city to help buy all this parkland 10 years ago, there had to be a transit function in the deal. So Malibu promised more than 200 commuter parking spaces on the old Christmas Tree lot on PCH near Heathercliff Drive.

Commissioner Jake Lingo urged the city to fulfill that commitment to Metro by shifting some of the 200 parking spaces down at the Civic Center instead of at Point Dume.

"It sounded to me when this started that Metro would be flexible to some sort of deal. So if we could add 100 spaces to the Triangle Lot and get rid of this second level at Point Dume," Lingo said. "So if we could add 100 spaces to the Triangle Lot and get rid of the second story of this, I would be in favor. Put in underground parking at Point Dume. Put something beautiful there, so everyone driving past it on PCH could see how beautiful it is."

Other recommendations from the parks commissioners: put in as many swimming pool lanes at the proposed 25-yard-long swimming pool as possible. The city had proposed four lanes, or maybe eight. More lanes, said the commission. Also, get rid of a second set of bathrooms.

There was a split of opinion, with some parks commissioners campaigning for less intensive use at the Heathercliff lot and more nature. Commissioner Georgia Goldfarb said she wants a nature walk, native plants, a botanical garden. She says the current plan has too much concrete.

"When people looked at it, they saw a lot of built environment of concrete and asphalt," Goldfarb said. "And nothing for environmentalists or folks who were more interested in trails."

The city already built that at Legacy Park 16 years ago. That's when the city council decided to put in a park without athletic facilities — in a city where such facilities barely exist. City council members now say the demand is for athletic facilities. The field at Point Dume was promised to residents as that a decade ago, when the city bought the land.

But Goldfarb called the city's rough plan for an indoor gym and recreation center on Point Dume "ugly."

"I think this needs bigger vision," she said. "I think we had told staff that we wanted a smaller building, a library there where people could come and go, and, you know, walk around native plants."

Walking around native plants is what the city has at Legacy Park at one end of town and Charmlee Park at the other.

Commissioner Dane Skjophammer said no — it was time to give Malibu residents some active sports areas.

"One of the things that's going to entice younger families to come and stay and live in Malibu is to have recreational facilities that they want and are moving away for," Skjophammer said. "As well as things to serve our elderly population, which we seem to have plenty of in this town."

Skjophammer also pointed out that even with build-out of the recreation center and pool, about one third of the Point Dume park would be left as open space for nature gardens and hiking.

All of this is recommendations for the city council, which starts making decisions on this in September.