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Commission approves consolidated wastewater system, grants variance near Blue Line Stream for beachfront rebuild
Summary
The commission approved a coastal development permit and variance to allow a consolidated advanced on-site wastewater treatment system (AWTS) within a reduced buffer of a Blue Line Stream for a Woolsey fire rebuild on Malibu's west side.
The Malibu Planning Commission on Feb. 3 approved an application to replace two destroyed septic systems with a single advanced on-site wastewater treatment system (AWTS) at a West-side beachfront property, granting a variance for encroachment into the 100-foot environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) buffer.
Fletcher Scott and planning staff explained the parcel’s constraints: a Blue Line Stream that wraps the property’s western and northern edges, coastal bluff setbacks to the south, steep slopes and limited room for system siting. The project consolidates a former 1,500-gallon tank and a 750-gallon tank into a single 3,600-gallon system sited in an existing disturbed pad and makes use of existing seepage pits where feasible.
Applicant representatives and the property owner described the rebuild as a family home recovery after Woolsey. Project architect Ryan Lehi said the fire department required an upgraded fire flow, which forced the owner to extend a water main along PCH and install a hydrant at significant cost to the owner. Property owner Herschel Alford said his family had waited more than six years to rebuild and asked the commission to approve the project so they could move forward: "I plead to you to please, do as you've led me to, right, and vote yes on this matter," he said.
Norm Haney, who said he advises on wastewater matters, urged approval and called the system’s effluent highly treated and unlikely to harm ocean water quality, noting permeable soils on the site and similarity to other shoreline systems.
Planning staff recommended approval of Coastal Development Permit 23-039 and Variance 24-004, finding that the siting represented the best feasible location given site constraints and that the proposed AWTS would meet required treatment standards. The commission voted to adopt the staff resolution and approve the project; Commissioner Peake recused himself from the hearing.
Ending The commission approved the consolidated AWTS and the buffer variance after finding no practicable alternatives on the constrained lot and after hearing testimony that the proposed system would achieve high-quality effluent and that denial could make rebuilding infeasible.
