What counts as 'beachfront'? Malibu seeks a formal definition Play

What is a beachfront house? That is an important question in Malibu land use law — because beachfront houses are allowed to be crowded up against each other, like on PCH.

But what do you do about a beachfront house out in the western half of Malibu, where houses are not allowed to be crowded up next to each other? In fact, they are required to be set back from each other.

That issue has until now been handled on a case-by-case basis, with city planning officials treating the definition of beachfront houses like pornography. They know it when they see it.

Now the city planning commission is going to be asked to adopt a formal definition of the term "beachfront."

Try this: a house is beachfront if one of its parcel boundary lines is the Pacific Ocean or beach — not on a bluff, and not in the rural residential zoning designation like most of rural Malibu.

Seems simple, right?

That is the basic language, simplified, in the proposed city policy. Let's see what the planning commission does with this next Monday.