Malibu council hears heated appeals over Civic Center wetland; property owner withdraws restoration permit

The Malibu City Council met in a Sept. 25 special session to hear two cross-appeals of Planning Commission Resolution 24-13 tied to Coastal Development Permit 22040 for 23955 Civic Center Way. Appellant groups — the Malibu Township Council and the Malibu Coalition for Slow Growth — urged the council to require broader restoration and protections after years of unpermitted disking, saying older delineations show a larger wetland footprint than the applicant and a recent delineation indicate.

"This Eshera parcel is a rare ecological treasure," said Pat, an appellant speaker, urging the council to direct restoration on the basis of earlier Edith Reed delineations and to require the LIP's 3:1 restoration ratio for illegally disced areas. Appellants showed photos and video they said documented wholesale clearing in 2019–2020 and pressed the council to treat the historic, pre-disked boundary as the baseline for restoration.

The owner’s counsel, Victor Dela Cruz of Manette Phelps, said the current owner bought the property in June 2021 and promptly filed a habitat restoration and monitoring plan (HRMP) in July 2022 at the city biologist’s direction. "We applied to do exactly what city staff and the Coastal Commission…