FUTURAMA / FuturAMAlibu
These are the days of miracles and wonders.
This is the long-distance call.
Paul Simon - The Boy in the Bubble (1986)
A Forward-Looking Proposal for a Multi-Use, Visitor and Local-Serving 1 - 16 acre Solar Farm / EV Charging Stations / Weekend Swap Meet+Farmers Market+Concours d’Elegance / Occasional Drive In Theater / Mobile Truck Food Court / Chumash-Themed Children’s Playground / Overnight Camping for Bedouin VanLivers / Community Garden / Public Bathroom with Showers
The bare lot with the tree is the 9.65-acre property owned by the City of Malibu and the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA).
The rectangular area north of that immovable tree and the property boundary is 1.5 acres that could be the foundation of a much larger solar farm.
The yellow-outlined property is an additional 6.4 acres that is for sale for $7,000,000+. Or could be leased for the solar farm.
Running east from the top of the city property and behind Santa Monica College and the library, Pepperdine owns another 5+ acres that could extend the solar farm to five or as many as 13 acres.
That Pepperdine property borders a 2+ acre, weird-shaped, dogleg “La Paz” property that could add an additional 2 acres to the solar farm for a total of 15 acres.
Across Stuart Ranch Road is the Bell Property - another 6+ acres which could extend the solar farm to a whopping 21+ acres.
And then there’s the small, triangular, Malibu-owned “Webb Way” property that is about 1.5 acres and could bring the total to 22+ acres = enough to power the whole FuturaMalibu complex, and maybe all of central Malibu.
THE 5+ ACRE, PEPPERDINE-OWNED PROPERTY BEHIND SANTA MONICA COLLEGE AND THE LIBRARY
The rectangular property behind the new Santa Monica College building and the old city hall and the library is owned by Pepperdine and could add as many as five acres to the solar farm.
This weird, dog-leg property runs along La Paz street between the library and Cross Creek Ranch, and then opens up behind Cross Creek Ranch. It could add as many as two acres to the solar farm.
MULTI-USE FOR VISITORS AND LOCALS, PRIORITIZED
EV charging field for as many as 700 electrical vehicle chargers. As many as the present needs and the future demands. Ideally powered entirely by renewable solar energy.
1 - 21-acre solar farm to power all of this and maybe more. Behind the tree and extending into other leased or bought properties.
Chumash-themed children’s playground in a rectangle around the immovable tree.
Part-time drive in theater with removeable screen. And possibly also an outdoor concert venue.
Clean, spacious location for Farmer’s Market + Malibu swap meet + concours d’elegance.
Food court for mobile food trucks.
Bathroom block for bathroom-challenged central Malibu.
Overnight parking for Bedouin travelers and workers.
If there’s any space left over: A community garden.
In September of 2018 the City of Malibu closed escrow on the $42.5 million purchase of three pieces of property in Malibu. That purchase included a 9.65 acre parcel of open dirt and gravel with two trees in the middle of Malibu - aka the Sycamore Village Parcel - between Stuart Ranch Road and where the Santa Monica College satellite is now being constructed.
This is the Commission Agenda Report dated January 5, 2019.
According to Malibu Patch the property was paid for with: “Undesignated General Fund Reserves, Designated General Fund Reserves, Los Angeles County Measure R and M funding and through the issuance of COPs... A portion of the lands will be developed for transportation or parking uses consistent with the guidelines for L.A. County Measure R and Measure M funds. ‘Malibu has leveraged years of careful fiscal management to take advantage of a rare opportunity to acquire such valuable and desirable open space in California's coastal region," said Mayor Rick Mullen in a statement. "This land was commercially zoned, and by purchasing it, we can ensure it will never become a shopping mall or an office building, but instead will benefit the community in perpetuity.’
A press release from the City of Malibu continued: "Potential land uses will be thoroughly explored and discussed in a robust and transparent process which will be developed in the coming months based on feedback from the community.”
Solar farm in the 1.5 acres above the tree. Chumash-inspired playground around the tree. And the rest of it: EV charging stations, farmers market/swap meet/concours d’elegance/, overnight camping for Bedouin, nomadland vanlifers. Maximum use, minimum impact.
In the middle of Malibu that 9.65 acre piece of very valuable dirt has been used a couple of times a year as the Chili Cook Off Site and for a traveling carnival, but 99% of the time just collecting dust and wind and solar radiation and doing nothing with it.
Looking at present and future needs, that dirt is perfectly situated to serve both residents and visitors - present and future - a couple hundred yards from tens of thousands of infernal combustion engine, fossil-fuel burning, C02 emitting “stinkpots” roaring past on Pacific Coast Highway.
According to the draft EIR for the Whole Foods complex: “Traffic volumes on PCH, as recorded by Caltrans... approximately 30,000 vehicles per day east of Kanan Dume Road. In the vicinity of the project site, PCH carries approximately 46,000 vehicles per day east of Cross Creek Road…..”
This proposal is to convert that 9.6 acres into a local-and-visitor serving, multi-use, money-producing, envy-inspiring, forward-looking, year-around alchemy of an EV charging farm beginning with as many charging stations as the present needs but adding as many charging stations as the future requires, but also includes a solar farm of 1 - 21 acres; a Chumash-inspired children’s playground; a space for weekend swap meets and/or a farmer’s market and/or concours d’elegance; a drive in theater with a removable screen - served by a mobile food truck court - and at night, those EV charging and drive in movie spaces would become pay ($30 - 50+ a night) parking spaces for the ever-growing population of full-time nomadic Bedouin travelers/workers (See: Oscar for Nomadland), providing secure parking, electrical hookups, a bathroom and most importantly: Solid WiFi.
A Twitter plea to Elon Musk, and a sneaky way to push the allowable number of characters in a tweet.
The working title for this idea is Futurama or FuturaMalibu because this plan looks off to the rapidly-advancing future, when stinkpots become the minority, Californians are rolling in millions of electric vehicles powered by renewable energy, and the population of nomadic Bedouin travelers increases.
Those EV drivers will need a place to charge, and the Vanlifers will need a clean, well-lighted, safe place to sleep, use WiFi, find a clean bathroom.
Teslas Teslas everywhere nor any drop to drink. These Teslas are charging in The Park at Cross Creek, the first SuperChargers in town. More to come.
From living in prosperous, progressive Malibu you get a taste of the future, and the future is electric: electric cars, ideally running on electricity generated by non-toxic renewable energies: Wind, solar, hydro, even safe nuclear.
Norway is already doing that: More than half the cars in the country are electric, and their grid is 98% renewable - mostly hydroelectric.
Yay Norway. And also Ecuador, but Norway has only five million people and Ecuador has 3.5 million. California has almost 40 million.
ALL RENEWABLE BY 2045
In 2002 California's renewable portfolio standard (RPS) was enacted and has been revised several times since then. It requires that 33% of electricity retail sales in California come from eligible renewable resources by 2020, 60% by 2030, and 100% by 2045.
As Vincent Vega said: “That’s a bold statement,” but not impossible. That goal would be more attainable if California - like Norway - had just over five million people and not just under 40 million. But a renewable California is on the drawing board. And the phenomenal success of Tesla is goading Ford and Porsche and Volvo and other legacy auto makers to get on the green foot and innovate electric cars powered by clean, green energy.
FuturaMalibu is somewhat inspired by the Surf Ranch in Lemoore, California. This project was considered impossible and impractical and whacko also, but with a combination of a lot of money ($30M+) and spectacular engineering, Kelly Slater Wave Co captured lightning in a bottle and created the perfect wave in the land of meth and methane - 100+ miles from the nearest actual ocean.
At Surf Ranch, everything is first rate: Engineering, construction, trees, fences, gravel, VIP area, bathrooms. Everything. The whole experience.
FuturaMalibu aspires to this level of quality in everything.
And now President Biden is all in on the Green New Deal. Biden was VP in 2009 when the Obama administration loaned Tesla $465 million to upgrade the Fremont factory and build the Tesla S. Biden watched as Tesla paid that loan back five years early, and that loan fertilized tens of thousands of jobs and hundreds of billions in wealth. That investment continues to fertilize that kind of growth as Tesla is building factories in China, Germany and Texas.
There are many more jobs and billions to come from that Tesla investment, which - like Hoover Dam and the Panama Canal and other US government bets - will be producing massive amounts of wealth off in the future as the world goes electric.
Looking south over the 6.5 acre lot that is for sale, and abuts the 9.5 acre dirt lot owned by the City of Malibu. PCH is right close by and easily accessible to this property.
President Biden is all in on the Green New Deal. On March 31, 2021, Biden announced his $2 trillion American Jobs Plan, which included: “grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030.... His plan also will replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20 percent of our yellow school bus fleet. Finally, it will utilize the vast tools of federal procurement to electrify the federal fleet, including the United States Postal Service.”
In other words, Uncle Sam is providing tens of billions to electrify America, and that means they will most likely pay for the installation of EV chargers in the choicest places.
Malibu probably has more Teslas per capita than anywhere other than Palo Alto and Oslo, and according to plugshare.com, there’s a surprising “66 public charging stations, 21 of which are free EV charging stations. Malibu has a total of 17 DC Fast Chargers, 13 of which are Tesla Superchargers.”
That’s a lot of charging stations for a city of 13,000, but soon enough that’s not going to be enough. Anyone with any vision - or who has driven a Tesla - knows that fossil-fuel-burning, C02-emitting, multi-problematic, internal combustion engine “stinkpots” are gonna go the way of the dinosaur and the dodo and Blockbuster Videos and bookstores - and the sooner the better.
And now Ford is rolling out the F-150 Lightning, an all-electric, 380 horsepower pickup truck that could be a serious mind-changer. The F series is as American as America gets and also the most popular auto series in the world. If Ford can convince middle America that electric cars are the go, it’s gonna be go go go.
Musk congratulated Ford because that’s what he’s been about all along: He’s not afraid of competition, he encourages competition because he knows the world needs to transition to electric vehicles sooner than later, and the sooner the better.
That future is coming at Ludicrous speed and this proposal is a way for Malibu to be forward-looking, and utilize a piece of property to serve the present and grow toward that future in a low-impact, renewable, multi-purpose way.
And it would be cool to bring back drive in theaters - a 20th Century experience powered by 21st Century need and technology. Save the American family while saving the planet.
And a Malibu swap meet would be fun, no? Everything from Basquiats to booties.
_____________________________________________________ELECTRICAL VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
As many as the present needs, and the future demands.
The 18 Tesla SuperChargers at Harris Ranch - halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco - take up 4,890 square feet, so that’s 271 square feet per charger. Harris Ranch has plans to add 100 chargers, if that gives you any indications for the futur.
President Biden is calling for 500,000 EV charging stations across the country by 2030 and he hopes to set aside tens of billions for the installation of those chargers.
From the American Jobs Proposal: Create good jobs electrifying vehicles. U.S. market share of plug-in electric vehicle (EV) sales is only one-third the size of the Chinese EV market. The President believes that must change. He is proposing a $174 billion investment to win the EV market. His plan will enable automakers to spur domestic supply chains from raw materials to parts, retool factories to compete globally, and support American workers to make batteries and EVs. It will give consumers point of sale rebates and tax incentives to buy American-made EVs, while ensuring that these vehicles are affordable for all families and manufactured by workers with good jobs. It will establish grant and incentive programs for state and local governments and the private sector to build a national network of 500,000 EV chargers by 2030, while promoting strong labor, training, and installation standards. His plan also will replace 50,000 diesel transit vehicles and electrify at least 20 percent of our yellow school bus fleet through a new Clean Buses for Kids Program at the Environmental Protection Agency, with support from the Department of Energy.
Malibu probably has more Teslas and Taycans and E-trons and i3s and other electric cars than anywhere other than Palo Alto or Oslo, and it’s hard to know out of the 55,000 cars passing by on PCH every day - how many of those are electric, and how many of those would stop in Malibu to charge them.
Repeating what was said above: “According to plugshare.com, there’s a surprising “66 public charging stations, 21 of which are free EV charging stations. Malibu has a total of 17 DC Fast Chargers, 13 of which are Tesla Superchargers.”
That’s a lot of charging stations for a city of 13,000, but soon enough that’s not going to be enough. Anyone with any vision - or who has driven a Tesla - knows that fossil-fuel-burning, C02-emitting, internal combustion engine “stinkpots” are gonna go the way of the dinosaur and the dodo and Blockbuster Videos and bookstores - and the sooner the better.
How many EV charging stations does Malibu need now, and how is that need and number going to increase, year by year, off into the next 20 or 30 years?
Looking at the area of that dirt lot between the road and the tree, if there is 190,000 square feet available for charging stations. At 250 square feet each, that is room for as many as 760 EV charging stations.
Looking at existing charging stations in Malibu and Harris ranch, it looks like the typical charging station requires about 250 square feet - could be more, could be less.
Looking at the area of that dirt lot between the road and the tree, if there is 190,000 square feet available for charging stations, that is room for as many as 760 EV charging stations.
Will the future require that many? Perhaps. Let’s hope so.
The best part about this facet of Futurama is Biden’s Green New Deal is going to make available tens of billions to pay for the purchase of those charging stations, and their installation.
And I’m told by my construction friends that not having to dig trenches in concrete and then refill those trenches after laying down conduit to connect chargers to the main lines will save a great deal of money in installation costs.
Keep Malibu Gravel. Keep Malibu Crunchy.
EIGHT TESLA SUPER CHARGERS BY OYSTER PLACE
Near Broad Street Oyster Co in Malibu: Eight Tesla SuperChargers in 1678 square feet = 210 square feet per Super Charger.
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A SOLAR FARM OF 1.5 - 7 ACRES TO CHARGE IT ALL
A seven-acre solar farm in Plymouth, England.
If this space is utilized for these variety of purposes, there is no way that Flame Tree will be touched. So in that area behind the tree/north of the tree to the property boundary there is a space of 1.5 acres that could be turned into a solar farm.
Two untouchable trees about 2/3 of the way along the property. The solar farm would go behind these trees out of their shade. The children’s playground would form a rectangle around these trees. Drone photo: Team Coben.
It’s hard to imagine a better location for a solar farm than Malibu, which has, arguably, the most consistently perfect weather on planet earth.
Would a solar farm work back there? A Malibu surfer and solar installer named Stuart said: “Of course solar would work. It would power everything and could even be elevated to provide more space on the ground, and if that's too permanent, it could be put right on the ground with no permanent foundation. Cost would be roughly $1.5M, but I think that's way more power than you need.”
I wondered: “Does ‘everything’ mean all the drive in equipment and the bathroom block and all the EV chargers and the overnight camper hookups?”
Hope so. I found this rough map online: For every acre, a solar farm produces an average of 0.357 GWh electricity per year. So .357 GWh x 1.5 acres = 0.5355 GWh per year. But this solar farm could gobble up adjacent properties and become as big as 11 acres which would be 3.927 GWh.
Panda-bear shaped solar farm in China. Malibu’s solar farm wouldn’t have to be this cute.
There is a 6.4 acre plot of land above the city-owned plot that could maybe be bought - $7,495,000 - or leased and extend the solar farm to 7 - 8 acres. Power the entire downtown?
For sale. Or lease? Could all of that 6.5 acres above the dirt lot be turned into a solar farm, and how much of FuturaMalibu and/or central Malibu would that power?
Plymouth England installed a seven-acre solar farm. Have to imagine Plymouth isn’t nearly as sunny as Malibu but these are some of the numbers: “After 18 months of planning and preparations… The supplemental power supply is expected to save between $60,000 and $70,000 per year in capacity and transmission costs. The village acquired the seven-acre field at no cost. The engineering, supplies and labor cost the village approximately $50,000. The field consists of approximately 3,400 three-by-five-foot solar panels. The panels are on a tracking system that allows them to automatically follow the sun throughout the day. The village signed a 30-year power purchase agreement with Eitri Foundry to maintain and operate the panels.”
And if you realllllly want to get ambitious, there’s another 4.87 acres of open land adjacent to FuturaMalibu - behind the old courthouse and the library and where they are building the Santa Monica College satellite campus. For a total of 1.5 + 6.5 + 4 = 12 acre solar farm, to power all of Los Angeles County.
A possible solar farm of 11+ acres would produce 3MW of renewable juice, enough to power 600-800 houses. I wonder how many EV charging stations that would power, and would it produce enough juice for all the other uses: Drive in movie, Bedouin camping, etc.
It would be a whole lot cooler if it did.
And there are other possibilities, like stand-alone solar panels that can power as many as 12 EV chargers at the same time. These are from BEAM at beamforall.com. The cost per station ranges from $56,350 to $61,320. Will Uncle Sam pay for these?
Someone on Reddit pointed toward GRIDSERVE’S Electric Forecourt in England. This is from their website:
The Electric Forecourt® is part of GRIDSERVE’s wider ‘sun-to-wheel’ infrastructure, built to deliver low cost, net zero carbon energy to every vehicle that uses one of GRIDSERVE’s chargers. Electricity is generated from both the solar power canopies above the chargers, and a network of hybrid solar farms, also operated by GRIDSERVE. The UK’s first subsidy-free solar farm in Clay Hill is paired with Braintree Electric Forecourt®, providing 100% renewable energy via the National Grid. There is also a 6 MWh battery onsite which helps to balance the local energy grid and shift energy to periods when it is more valuable. For example, on windy winter nights the battery can store enough energy to drive 24,000 miles in electric vehicles the following day, helping to maximise the value of renewable energy resources, stabilise the grid, and keep prices low.
Drivers charging at the Electric Forecourt® will initially pay just 24p per kWh of energy (including VAT), which is currently the lowest ultra-high power charging rates on the market today – meaning a typical charge from 20% to 80% costs under £10 for an average-size electric vehicle on the market today. To deliver additional flexibility GRIDSERVE also have plans to introduce a tiered pricing structure in the future.
While vehicles charge, drivers can relax and shop in state-of-the-art facilities that cater for all their needs. This includes a comprehensive retail space hosting “Best of British” partners including WHSmith Travel, Costa Coffee, Booths, Post Office, and Gourmade. The facility also includes a waiting lounge, free superfast WiFi, high-end washrooms, dedicated kid’s area, wellbeing area with exercise bikes that generate electricity, and business meeting room pods.
GRIDSERVE’S Electric Forecourt fits nicely nicely into around 5 acres in Braintree, England. This facility is first rate and economical, And I guarantee you Malibu gets a lot more traffic and sun exposure than Braintree.
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CHUMASH-THEMED PLAYGROUND/REST AREA
A Chumash myth and history-themed kid’s playground built under and around that big flame tree. Parents can relax under the tree and watch their kids go off, physically and creatively, as they absorb knowledge about Chumash myth, history, crafts and art.
Woulda been cool to put Malibu’s skateboard park in that one-acre rectangle that includes the Flame Tree. But the skateboard park is being built at Bluff’s Park. So how about a playground for kids, with a Chumash theme, so they can learn some local history and respect as they play?
One of the joys of being a Boomer was going to the drive in with your family in the 1960s. If we weren’t into the movie, we would play on sketchy playground equipment under the screen, staring up at Raquel Welch’s bosoms or Dennis Hopper’s hair.
Woulda been cool to build Malibu’s skatepark in that rectangular 35,000+ square feet around that tree and under the screen, but that skatepark is being built at Bluff’s Park.
An illustration of the Wishtoyo Rainbow Bridge, which Chumash legend believes brought the Chumash people from the Channel Islands to the mainland. A Wishtoyo-themed bridge would be the centerpiece of the children’s playground - connecting one end to the other and running over a lot of fun cool stuff.
So how about a children’s playground, which is Chumash-inspired: The centerpiece is the Wishtoyo Rainbow bridge which Chumash myth believes connected the Channel Islands to the mainland. Those who crossed the bridge had to avoid looking down, else they would die.
The Goddess Hutash took pity on the fallen souls and turned them into dolphins.
So the centerpiece of the playground would be that Wishtoyo Rainbow Bridge for kids to romp on - but don’t fall or you become a dolphin.
The Wishtoyo Rainbow Bridge would run the length of the playground, from a fun island structure on one end and over structures shaped like dolphin, birds, whales and other Chumash-era animals and structures, like Tomol canoes and the domed ‘aps.
And at the other end, Humaliwu Village.
An artist’s representation of Malibu when it was Humaliwu - a Chumash village. The circular structure is for ceremonies. Illustration courtesy Reeve Woolpert.
The Chumash lived in domed structures called ‘aps. It would be easy to take this shape and reshape it into some kind of play structure. Photo: ????
The Chumash tomol canoes were high tech, fast and sturdy enough to explore the Channel Islands and make it back alive. There could be play structures shaped like the tomol canoes.
The Chumash had the time and leisure to produce intricate cave paintings. Perhaps the Wishtoyo playground could provide a similar area for kids to express themselves with paint?
A re-creation of Juan Cabrillo's San Salvador? Or would that be too politically correct in today's cancel culture? Because Cabrillo arriving in 1542 was the beginning of the end of Chumash culture.
And in the middle of it, that big shady tree, where parents can sit and rest and watch their kids go off physically and creatively.
EXAMPLES OF NATIVE-AMERICAN THEMED PLAYGROUNDS
Detail of the Palisades Recreation Center in Washington DC.
Native American canoe and other themed structures at the Indian Creek Playground in Berwyn Heights. Maryland.
Indian Creek Playground - Berwyn Heights, Maryland
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A COMMUNITY GARDEN
Aerial view of Cherry Lawn Community Garden in Darien, Connecticut. Sixty different plots on less than one acre of land. Very popular and citizen-serving.
Indiana-native and Serra Retreat resident Brittney Banks looked at this plan for FuturAMAlibu, scratched her head and said “Community garden.” Which is not a bad idea.
A community garden of one or two acres for all the professional and hobby gardeners in Malibu - there are a lot - to grow food, flowers, whatever the community needs.
Food to feed the homeless?
Maybe a community compost heap for organic waste turned into fertilizer?
The city of Austin has a whopping 67 community gardens.
https://www.austintexas.gov/sites/default/files/files/Parks/Austin_Grows/Community_Gardens_Overview.pdf
Google Earth view of the Cherry Lawn Community Garden in Darien, Connecticut. Long waiting list to get one of those plots.
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OCCASIONAL DRIVE IN MOVIE THEATER
A temporary drive in theater with a removable screen. Where Malibu citizens and visitors can catch up on the latest movies but also charge their electric cars.
An inflatable screen at the King Gillette Ranch. FuturaMalibu would do something similar. Outside and impermanent, as demand demands.
It’s dumb that Malibu - of all places - doesn’t have a public movie theater. The Regal Malibu Cinema opened in 1972 as a single screen cinema and added a second screen in October of 1992. A fire in 2005 forced a closure and renovation.
RIP Malibu Cinemas. They were offered a 70% reduction in rent, and still couldn’t swing it.
Hollywood Theaters reopened a twin movie house in November 2006. In 2013 it was taken over by the Regal Entertainment Group. The theater was small and comfortable and felt like all those private screening rooms in all those Malibu mansions - which might have been partially responsible for its demise. The operators were offered a 70% reduction in rent, but the Hollywood Theaters gave up - a combination of streaming TV and the citizens of Malibu having private theaters and Academy Award screeners.
Malibu Cinema closed September 10, 2017 and in 2019 it was converted into a Fred Segal lifestyle store.
Boomers will remember a time in the 60s when drive in movies were good, clean fun for the whole family. And a different kind of fun for teenagers. Cool to breathe life into a 20th Century tradition with 21st Century necessity.So let’s salvage the family while saving the planet!!!!
The Malibu Twilight Cinema has shown drive in movies on that dirt lot in Covid times during the summer of 2020. They showed Princess Bride on August 28, and offered 250 car slots at a price range of $35 - $300. They didn’t have food service on the lot, but partnered with local businesses to deliver food.
Futurama would offer drive-in movies as often as traffic and demand demands. And perhaps the demand would increase if citizens could watch feature films outside on a big screen under that lovely Malibu night light - while charging their cars.
Certainly not every night and maybe not every weekend. It would be nice if the electric car revolution brought back drive in movies and made them the institution they were in the 1960s.
The parking slots would be the EV charging stations and the movies would be projected on an inflatable, 40-foot screen, with sound transmitted to FM radios.
Charge by day and drive away.
Charge at night while you watch a movie = groovy!
None of the movie apparatus would be permanent: The projector and audio in a trailer, and the screen taken down after showings and stowed.
This company offers the whole package for around $43,000
AIRSCREEN 40’ PACKAGE W/ PROJECTOR + FM TRANSMITTER
The drive in screen would have to be removable because of Santa Ana winds and vandalism and there will probably be citizen objections to a big structure like that blocking the view.
AIRSCREEN® 40' Drive-In
$42,675
Jim Taglauer <jim@dtaglobal.com>
6:33 AM (5 hours ago) to me
Hi Ben,
Thanks for your message to our partners at AIRSCREEN. As the North-American exclusive dealer of AIRSCREEN, we're proud to offer the industry's best outdoor-movie screen, along with the movie equipment to produce great drive-in experiences!
Looking at the size of area you have, I would suggest our 40' system with an upgraded projector package to ensure a brilliant display. The 40' drive-in, showing here, includes everything you'd need, minus power and a movie - to get going.
This equipment doesn't require a degree in engineering to set up - but you would need a crew of 5-6 on this size screen.
I'd be happy to discuss our products and services to get something up and going in Malibu - I think it sounds like a great idea. Happy to keep chatting here, or feel free to reach me directly, 301-825-9266.
Inflatable Movie Screens = AIRSCREEN® 40'
1. Drive-In Movie Console
2. Panasonic PT-MZ770U Laser
3. Drive-In Movie Equipment
4. Drive-In FM Transmitter System
Jim Taglauer
DTA Outdoor Movies Sales
Direct 301.825.9266
jim@dtaglobal.com
14803 Southlawn Lane, Suites I-N | Rockville | MD | 20850
1612802459927
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OUTDOOR CONCERT VENUE
Malibu Really Should Have a Better Music Scene
Red Rock outside theater in Nevada. FuturaMalibu wouldn’t have to be this fancy, but it would be cool to have a concert venue.
It’s also sadiculous that Malibu doesn’t have more of a music scene, considering there are probably more famous musicians living in Malibu than movie stars: Flea and Anthony Keidis, Bob Dylan, Beck, Mike D, Barbara Streisand, Pat Benatar, Dr. Dre, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Ozzy Osbourne, Neil Young, Sting etc.
And that doesn’t include the musicians who have lived in Malibu, from Itzhak Perlman to Joni Mitchell.
So possibly FuturaMalibu could include an outdoor stage in about the same place where the removable movie screen would go and Malibu could rock again.
—————————————————————————————————————-LANE FOR MOBILE FOOD TRUCK COURT = 17,765 S/F
No concession stand needed. Instead, a moveable feast.
Instead of building a permanent concession stand, a lane for an ever-changing variety of mobile food trucks. Feat: The In N Out trailer!!!
To minimize permanent construction and alterations and infrastructure demands - power, sewage - to the property and keep it as low impact as possible, instead of a concession stand to serve the drive in theater and other uses, create a lane for mobile food trucks and have a kind of moveable feast of the best food trucks that Los Angeles has to offer.
I lived in Hawaii for three years and there was a very popular weekend mobile food court at Kewalo Basin that attracted hundreds.
Street Grindz Makers and Tasters at Kewalo Basin.Wasn’t every weekend, but when it was there it was packed.
STREET FOOD CINEMA
There is something like FuturaMalibu in Calabasas.
And it seems to work.
Street Food Cinema:
They don’t have shows every weekend - every two or three weeks it seems to be. They charge $20 per car and $8 per person which is kind of a lot, but they do sell out. And they have a big variety of food trucks.
—————————————————————————————————————-FARMER’S MARKET / SWAP MEET / CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE
A large space for an expanded Malibu Farmer’s Market
plus perhaps a Malibu swap meet and also a place for all those
fancy cars that have been congregating in front of Malibu Kitchen.
MALIBU FARMER’S MARKET
Every Sunday, the Cornucopia Foundation runs the Malibu Farmer’s Market. They squeeze a couple dozen booths selling prepackaged artisan gourmet foods, farmers produce, pro-packaged bakery, prepared farmer’s cafe and crafters into a parking lot that is 60’ x 370’ = 24,000 square feet. The hours are 9:00 - 2:00 on Sundays.
The Farmer’s Market is popular for schmoozing and grazing, but you have to wonder if they need more space and would they be more comfortable moving east a hundred yards and spreading out at FuturaMalibu with more space and electrical hookups and clean bathrooms instead of Port a Potties.
And if the Malibu Farmer’s Market moved to that great expanded space, would it greatly expand? Is there demand for more space?
MALIBU SWAP MEET: BASQUIAT TO BOARDRIDERS
The monthly Rose Bowl Flea Market is considered one of the best in America. Could Malibu do better? It would draw on citizens from West LA, the Valley, Ventura County and maybe even people from Malibu.
Malibu used to have the ArtifacTree second hand store which was popular. You have to wonder what a Malibu Swap Meet would be like: cast off Basquiats on one end, a lot of used surf gear on the other and everything in the middle. It would probably be pretty cool, and Futurama will have more than enough room to fit a Swap Meet and the Farmer’s Market into one day or one weekend of shopping and swapping. A Malibu swap meet would become very popular, very quickly I suspect.
CARS AND COFFEE CONCOURS D’ELEGANCE
Jay Leno digging the scene with the gangster lean at Malibu Kitchen. Every Sunday Leno shows up with whichever car fits his mood that day. And he holds court overlooking a truly impressive variety of beautiful, tuned, vintage and futuristic cars - buggies to Bugattis. There are few places in the world that attract this level of quality in cars.
There are few places in the world where you will see a more exotic collection of beautiful cars - new and old - than Malibu. The location for Cars and Coffee has moved around and gravitates from Trancas to Central Malibu in the past few years, but as of the Spring of 2021, the parking lot in front of Malibu Kitchen turns into a noisy, smoke concours d’elegance every Sunday: Cars of every age and vintage, from classic Chevy Malibus to multi-million-dollar Bugatti Chirons and McLaren Elvas take up spaces in the parking lot and turn quiet Malibu into a noisy, smokey and - some say - pretentious car-porn scene.
Seinfeld comes often as does Jay Leno and again - there are few places in the world outside of Carmel and Dubai where you will see an informal collection of cars like Malibu.
During Covid, health officials shut down the Cars and Coffee in front of Malibu Kitchen and it’s still getting too big for its britches.
Perhaps Futurama would have enough space for the Swap Meet and the Farmer’s Market and the concours d’elegance, all on the same weekend?
Or maybe the Swap Meet and Farmer’s Market on Saturday and concours d’elegance on Sunday?
A thoroughly modern McLaren Elva at Malibu Kitchen: 680 horsepower, $1.7 million, no windshield or roof. Helmets suggested.
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CENTRAL MALIBU IS BATHROOM CHALLENGED
The only permanent structures would be the projection booth and the bathroom block for everyone using the lot for whatever reasons.
A regal public bathroom in Poland.
What would be stylishly appropriate for Malibu?
Below is a “comfort station” in Ocean Beach.
Central Malibu is bathroom-challenged, a hold over from the septic tank days that should no longer be a problem - but it is.
I originally thought the only two permanent structures needed on the lot would be a projection booth and a bathroom block, but apparently the projection apparatus can all be contained in a trailer, so now the only permanent building would be the bathroom block: For EV charging people, for the swap meet, for the Farmer’s Market, for the drive in movie, for the overnight campers and maybe for MTA drivers and passengers, if the MTA is involved in this.
It would be cool to GO BIG on the bathroom block and do something arty and stylish. And clean and durable.
The nicest public bathroom I’ve ever seen is at the Coppola/Niebaum Winery in Napa. So stylish you want to hang out in there, but you shouldn’t.
Here are the finalists for 10 Best Public Restrooms in America:
https://www.insider.com/best-public-restrooms-us-2018-8
And here are 38 Public Restrooms on Pinterest:
https://www.pinterest.com/hagenproperties/public-bathrooms/
It would be nice to make a very stylish, sturdy public restroom at Futurama.
Bathroom stalls and urinals for one and all, but also possibly pay showers for overnight campers and maybe even transients who need a shower - perish the thought.
And if the MTA is involved in this, the bathroom block could be built to provide a covered shelter near the bus stop - and the bathroom would be convenient for MTA drivers on route 534 and also passengers.
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NOMADLAND
Paid, overnight van and RV parking for Bedouin travelers and nomadic van livers.
Electrical hookups, bathrooms and most importantly: Wifi!
In the last couple years - because of the Woolsey Fire and Covid - Malibu has been plagued by caravans of campers parked illegally, haphazardly and hazardly along Pacific Coast Highway. Futurama would offer these Bedouin a safe, secure overnight spot for $30 - ^$60 a night.
The 2021 Oscar for Best Picture went to Nomadland - a semi-documentary movie about “A woman in her sixties, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.”
Nomadland exposes and shines a light on an ever-growing layer of Americans who - by choice or by necessity - are living on the road full time, in cars that barely run, and lavish vans that cost $150,000+. Because of the economy, and Covid, and the cost of housing and living and the internet, more and more people are finding their Bedouin roots, and finding that life on the road is the only way to live.
But these Bedouin/nomad wanderers have become a problem in Malibu, as Barbara Burke wrote for Malibu Magazine in ????: “In a paradigm illustration of government bureaucracy at its most complicated, neighborhood residents and business owners whose properties abut Pacific Coast Highway in and near Malibu are at their wit’s end as the homeless people and other citizens literally set up camp along the PCH, worrying residents about the danger of wildfires, lack of sanitation, and possible criminal activity that they are witnessing as the seemingly permanent assemblage of RVs and tents grows. It is a longstanding problem and citizens feel the various political entities responsible for addressing their concerns regarding fire hazards, safety, crime and sanitation caused by people parking long-term along the highway have been both unresponsive and ineffective. This is primarily because policy makers and civic leaders perceive the situation as one where citizens are practicing their rights to beach access, not as an issue with zoning and land use.
The problem: People are camping long-term in RVs, cars and other vehicles along various stretches of PCH. This phenomenon is increasing, in part due to the high cost of housing in California and the lack of adequate housing for homeless persons. This is in part due to a ninth circuit court of appeals decision to prohibit law enforcement from issuing citations when people violate no long-term parking or no camping regulations if adequate housing for the homeless is not available.”
Bedouin van campers at a clean, well-shaded lot somewhere in America. Futurama would be something like this, but just open spaces on gravel.
Law enforcement and public safety officials tolerated some of the roadside camping in 2019 and 2020, due to displacements from the Woolsey Fire and Covid, but into 2021, Malibu and other cities like Venice began cracking down on roadside campers, citing a wide variety of worries: Sanitation, traffic safety, public parking, fire hazards.
Clearly there are dozens if not hundreds of RVs and campers looking for a place to park in and around Malibu, and that is another facet of FuturaMalibu that could produce a steady flow of income: Charge $30 - $60 a night for overnight camping and access to electrical hookups, clean bathrooms and - most importantly - solid WiFi.
This idea is not unique or original. According to hipcamp.com the Smith Ranch Drive In Theater in Joshua Tree offers toilets but no showers, potable water, picnic tables, no kitchens, no WiFi and they charge $50 a night for up to 8 people.
The Malibu RV Park offers ???? spaces in about 11 acres. Their summer rates are exorbitant: $71 for a tent space (!), $198 for ocean view with a 30 amp hookup and as much as $253 for an Ocean View Premium spot with 50 amp hookup.
FuturaMalibu could do better than that, and do well offering simple overnight camping for a reasonable rate: High enough to keep out the riff raff, low enough to be fair and give campers a break.
According to movinglabor.com, vanlifers can sleep for free in Wal Mart or casino parking lots, on public lands, at truck stops and rest areas.
Some BLM and public lands charge $5 - $25 a night. City, county, state or national campgrounds charge $5 - $50 a night. KOA charges $30 - $60 a night. Independent campgrounds and RV parks charge $20 - $40 a night.
Futurama could charge anywhere from $30 - $50 a night for secure parking, electrical hookups and bathrooms and people would be grateful to have it.
If Futurama charged $50 a night for electrical hookups, bathroom, pay showers and WiFi, I reckon campers would get a bargain, don’t you?
There would have to be strict rules about three-night limits, dumping sewage, noise control and other behaviors, but this could be the biggest revenue-producer and would certainly create a lot of good will between American nomads and Malibu.
Twenty spots a night at $50 a spot would be a steady $1000 a night to throw into the cash-flow calabash along with everything else.
Who knows how many people will want to camp in the middle of Malibu with a good bathroom, pay showers, electrical hookups and solid WiFi?
Could be surprising, and could take some of the congestion off PCH and make life easier for other visitors, and law enforcement.
And of course the ulterior motive to all of this is to lure the In N Out truck to Malibu as much as possible.
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A Brief History of Malibu’s Fear of Development
The Cross Creek area as seen in 1938 from Serra Retreat. That tree is still there, at the top of the Futurama property. And against all odds, a lot of that paradise hasn’t been paved over. But with the construction of the wastewater treatment plant, the Park at Cross Creek went in after a 12-year fight. The La Paz development is going in next to that, and the next lot over is a satellite campus for Santa Monica Canyon.
Malibu is the last, best place in America, a city of 20 square miles with a fluctuating population officially recorded as right around 13,000. That means a population density of around 650 people per square mile - which is Nebraska compared to the 7000+ per square mile of Los Angeles County, the 10,000+ per square mile of Santa Monica or the 1740+ per square mile of Calabasas.
Malibu is beset on three sides by the overpopulated, suburbanized, claustrophobic gack of modern Southern California, and yet it somehow remains a redoubt of quiet, peaceful, classically American small town life.
Malibuans live under the fear of what I call “Agouraphobia” which is a fear of overdevelopment and population density and Malibu losing those things that make it special - and turning into another American city like Calabasas or Agoura - indistinguishable from any other American city.
Looking at the middle of Malibu, and area of about 108 acres, there is a lot of very expensive dirt that would have been developed into condos or retail space or other commercial uses a long, long time ago.
THE CIVIC CENTER WASTE WATER TREATMENT FACILITY
All through the 20th Century and into the 21st, development in central Malibu was limited by the lack of a sewage system - a classic double-edged sword, as septic systems polluted the water table and the offshore waters, but limited development and left a lot of expensive dirt in the middle of town basking in the sun.
The recent development in the middle of Malibu - The Park at Cross Creek, the La Paz project and the Santa Monica College satellite campus - would not have been possible before the Civic Center Waste Water Treatment Facility which is located about half a mile to the west of Futurama.
Phase One of the project was completed in June of 2019. According to Nextdoor.com: “The project included a new wastewater treatment plant, a pipeline collection system, a recycled water system and an injection well system. The CCWTF currently treats up to 200,000 gallons per day and provides up to 70 million gallons of recycled water per year.”
On May 27, 2021, a meeting was held to discuss Phase Two of the project, which will expand the CCWTF from a capacity of treating 190,000 gallons per day to treating 350,000 gallons per day. Phase 2 will expand to serve 247 single family homes, 191 condominiums and seven other properties.
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LEGACY PARK
Fifteen acres of nature and clean water. And no CostCo.
Fifteen acres of prime real estate in the middle of Malibu, with easy access from tens of thousands of cars passing on Pacific Coast Highway every day. Most So Cal cities would have paved it and put up a parking lot, or a CostCo or a strip mall or condos or some other high-rent, tax-producing property.
But nope, Malibu resisted the paving and turned it all into a paradise with ulterior purposes. According to MalibuCity.org: “The Malibu Legacy Park Project is the centerpiece of the City’s commitment to improving ocean water quality and improving public health. A multi-benefit project for the environment and the community, Legacy Park addresses critical issues, including bacteria reduction in stormwater treatment, restoration / development of riparian habitats, and the development of an open space area for passive recreation and environmental education.
Legacy Park is located in the Civic Center area of Malibu, directly adjacent to significant natural resources, a location which is a point of interest to various regulatory agencies, environmental groups and the citizens because of the unique opportunity to simultaneously improve water quality, restore native riparian habitat, and preserve open space.
Created with funding from the City, grants, and $2.5 million in private contributions from the Malibu community, the $35 million project transformed 15 acres in the heart of Malibu into a central park that is one of the most ambitious and innovative stormwater and urban runoff projects in California. This state-of-the-art project is an environmental cleaning machine capable of capturing up to 2.6 million gallons per day of stormwater and urban runoff for treatment and disinfection. The clean stormwater is then reused for irrigation of the park.
The creation of Legacy Park also restored and developed important native coastal habitats, while creating open space for passive recreation and environmental education. It offers a living learning center, informational kiosks, an outdoor classroom, a cultural interpretive center, and numerous other features to provide information and education about flora and fauna along the Southern California coast.
The City celebrated the grand opening of Legacy Park on October 2, 2010. Since that time, Malibu Legacy Park has been recognized with numerous awards from regional, state, and national agencies and organizations for the project's engineering, sustainability, and water quality improvements.”
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THE PARK AT CROSS CREEK
12 Years a Battle
The earth moved in Malibu on Wednesday, the 12th of June, 2019. Seismographs recorded a 3.6 Richter scale tremor at 5:08 PM.
Some said it was an earthquake. Others said it was hell freezing over because after 12 years of lawsuits, battles, guilt and recriminations, Whole Foods opened a shiny new store in the middle of Malibu - the Park at Cross Creek was open for bidness.
Nothing happens in Malibu without a battle, and that was certainly true for The Park at Cross Creek, which took a 12-year battle that went all the way to the California Supreme Court to get The Park built, and the Whole Foods up and feeding a generation of future presidents from Pepperdine - and other Malibu citizens.
The Park at Cross Creek, tucked away and hidden somewhat, and serving Malibu without defacing it - as many feared. There are some Malibuites who wouldn’t be caught dead within The Park. Historians will see The Park as the dividing line between Malibu Viejo and Malibu Nuevo. Drone photo by Team Coben.
The Park at Cross Creek divided opinion in Malibu. Some saw it as creeping Agouraphobia - a strip mall!!! - while others welcomed the Whole Foods and Howdys and another coffee shop and gift shops - and now a Tesla showroom -saying the designers were sensitive to Malibu needs and hid the place away nicely nicely - like driving into Serra Retreat or Ramirez Canyon - you don’t know it’s there until you’re in there.
Historians will probably look back on the opening of The Park at Cross Creek as a fault line between Malibu Viejo and Malibu Nuevo.
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THE LA PAZ PROJECT
Too Much, and For Whom?
The La Paz Project In February of 2020, Flora Adamian wrote La Paz Ranch Project Moves Forward With Minor Changes for The Malibu Times. That story details the good, bad and the ugly of the La Paz project, and also its past, present and future.
The years-long La Paz Ranch development project, which proposes commercial offices and retail uses along with outdoor public spaces, received a facelift at the Jan. 21 Planning Commission meeting—12 years after receiving permits and without a single brick laid.
The project originally received development approvals from the Malibu City Council back in 2008. With construction permits in place, those representing the project came to City Hall seeking an approval to update the project’s design and functionality. The commission voted, 5-0, to approve the new amendments, with conditions.
“The changes deal with building layout, architecture and on-site circulation,” Planning Director Bonnie Blue said.
The new design proposes changing some building heights, shifting the locations of buildings, the removal of a special after-hours gate which is no longer needed due to layout changes, additional non-exempt grading related to utility construction and combining the originally approved two driveways into one driveway, Blue said.
The 132,058-square-foot project includes three parcels of land designated for specific uses. Parcels A and B are approved to be multibuilding commercial use complexes with office, retail and restaurant uses. Parcel C is dedicated to the City of Malibu for municipal uses.
“All the parcel sizes are still the same,” Blue said.
Additional changes, according to Blue, include combining the previously approved three underground garages into one garage, tweaking landscape and open space configurations, allowing restaurant location flexibility in Parcel A and a change to allow breakfast and coffee shops to open earlier. The project will tie into the Civic Center Wastewater Treatment Facility instead of having its own on-site wastewater system.
A fanciful illustration of the La Paz project. Horses? Really?
Blue reminded commissioners that the proposed changes to the project were not a reconsideration of the approved project. If the amendments were not approved by the commission, the developer would have been entitled to build the original approved project, Blue said.
Despite that clarification, Commissioner Steve Uhring raised concerns over adding additional development in Malibu, given that spaces in the Whole Foods, Malibu Colony and Malibu Lumber Yard shopping centers remain empty.
“So my concern says, if he can’t fill this thing, or if the current results we’ve got in these other shopping centers are going to be carried over into what he’s doing, we’re going to have a lot of empty spaces in Malibu, and I don’t think that’s good. I don’t think that’s a good image for the residents. I don’t think that’s a good image for other people, other commercial properties if they want to move in there,” Uhring said.
Brian Gordon, CEO of Pacific Equity Properties, said their proposed changes aim to make the project more beautiful and to better serve the Malibu residents.
“These changes include a much better, people-focused orientation, improved vehicle flow, improved pedestrian safety, more attractive architecture, enhanced landscaping and more neighborhood protection measures,” Gordon said. “Our changes keep the same floor area and density, keep the same mix of uses, keep the same number of parking spaces, keep the same setbacks, enhance the landscaping and the beauty of the project.”
Ron Radziner, design partner at Marmol Radziner, said the basic design goals with the modifications are to create a vibrant communal space within the Civic Center area. The previous project design was geared around the car, but the new design, Radziner said, is more pedestrian-oriented.
During public comment, Chumash community leader Julie Tumamait-Stenslie said she would like the applicant and the city to consider the monitoring of the project. There are eight recorded historic Native sites within a half mile of the project, she said.
“I’m just asking that the mitigation measures be considered—reconsidered—to include archaeological monitoring,” Tumamait-Stenslie said, referring to artifacts and human remains.
She also said that if native plants could be incorporated into the landscaping “that would be beautiful.”
Resident Katarina Vinegrad spoke in opposition to the project. She asked who the shopping center is being built to serve.
“Is it the population of 13,000 that reside within the city, or is it the millions of tourists who visit Malibu daily during peak season months?” Vinegrad asked.
Her pet peeve with shopping malls, Vinegrad said, is the amount of empty storefronts. If a shopping mall has to be built, she said she would like spaces offered at affordable rents to artists and crafters, community members and the Chumash.
“Greedy landlords demanding high rents that only giant corporations can provide result in a generic monoculture I find hard to believe any Malibu resident supports,” Vinegrad said.
After hours of back-and-forth discussions between commissioners and those representing the project, the planning commission imposed specific conditions to the amendments. Conditions included the banning of large-truck delivery times to on-site tenants between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. and between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Additionally, no trash or recycling pick-up were to be permitted between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m. All delivery trucks were prohibited from loading or unloading trucks on Civic Center Way at all times. Trash container areas must have proper drainage and containers must be covered and locked to avoid trash overflow.
Commissioners said the project must comply with the city’s bollard ordinance, and the city’s restrictions regarding colors—structures are to be limited to earth tones that match the surrounding environment and landscape.
Other conditions included the required on-site presence of a qualified Native American resources monitor or archaeologist during excavation, and the inclusion of 18-foot-wide emergency gates that can be opened in the absence of firefighters. The applicant is also required to submit a plan for disposing of the wastewater that arises during cleaning of the parking garage.
No outdoor dining is allowed after 11 p.m., and the “service area” of restaurants is limited to 10,000 square feet (indoor and outdoor), with outdoor dining areas limited to 4,000 square feet. No more than 40 percent of each individual restaurant’s seating may be outdoors.
Subterranean storage spaces in the garage will only be used for storage, including equipment rooms, and lit signs cannot face north toward the neighborhood adjacent to the development.
Project representatives agreed to all conditions.
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MALIBU CITY HALL AND SANTA MONICA COLLEGE SATELLITE
Santa Monica College is an Excellent College.
In April of 2018, Jimmy Tallal wrote $25 Million Santa Monica College Malibu Campus Construction Will Begin in August, Run Two Years for The Malibu Times.
“Finally, after years of bureaucratic delays, the construction of the Malibu satellite campus of Santa Monica College (SMC) will begin shortly. Construction of the sanitary sewer connection for the new school is scheduled to start on May 21, tying it into the new Malibu Civic Center Wastewater Treatment Facility (CCWTF). The construction of the classroom building and sheriff’s substation is scheduled to start on Aug. 22, according to Elaine M. Polachek, interim executive vice-president of SMC.
The design plans for the sanitary sewer component of the construction were approved by LA County on March 29 and by the City of Malibu on April 2. The construction bid process began on April 2, and bid award recommendation will go to the SMC Board of Trustees on May 1. If all goes according to plan, Polachek said, construction of the sewer connection will commence on May 21 and be completed by Aug. 14.
An illustration of the Malibu campus for Santa Monica College, from The Malibu Times. Pretty nice, but can people who go to this college afford to live in Malibu?
Plans for the overall design of the Malibu Campus and sheriff’s substation were submitted to the Division of the State Architect (DSA) on Feb. 28. The state agency provides design and construction oversight for community colleges and various other state-owned facilities. Its approval is expected by May 21. The construction bid process will begin that same day, and a bid award recommendation will go to the SMC Board of Trustees on Aug. 7. Construction will commence on Aug. 22 of this year and be completed by Oct. 14, 2020.
Funding for the new SMC-Malibu Campus comes from bond Measure S, which was approved by Santa Monica and Malibu voters back in in 2004, and allots $25 million for the Malibu facility. The campus is expected to provide college-level classes for all ages, including art, computers and science.
The new satellite campus will be located on approximately three acres of a nine-acre parcel owned by LA County, located directly across the street from Legacy Park. The 16,603-square-foot sheriff’s station building currently on that site—decommissioned in the early ’90s—will be demolished. In its place, a new, five-classroom/lab campus building, a sheriff’s substation, a community room that will double as an emergency operations center and interpretive center will be built. The former Los Angeles County Superior Court building and recently remodeled Malibu Library will not be affected.
The demolition and construction of the new campus will affect the Malibu Community Labor Exchange, which currently operates out of a trailer on the site’s parking lot. The county and SMC have committed to relocating the labor exchange to another part of the nine-acre property.
The weekly Malibu Farmers Market, which is also set up on the parking lot of the site, was up in arms last year about the effect construction could have on business. Debra Bianco, who manages the market, tried to get guarantees from the county, city and SMC that her operation would not be impacted at all in terms of parking spaces or booth space, but all three entities simply gave reassurance that they would do the best they could to minimize any disruption.
Although the project first got final approvals from the City of Malibu nearly two years ago, the bureaucracy of dealing with numerous government agencies took more time than anyone at SMC imagined, which delayed the start of construction.
Polachek described previous delays as the natural result of a complex project.
“This is a complicated project with three agencies in the mix—the County of Los Angeles, the City of Malibu and Santa Monica College,” Polachek said in an email, describing that it took quite a while just to work through the ground lease with LA County (the landowner), which was finally approved by the county Board of Supervisors last Nov. 21.
SMC also spent a significant amount of time finalizing plans for the sheriff’s station, communications tower and Verizon antenna, which will all be part of the SMC-Malibu Campus.
“I am pleased to say that we have moved forward on all of these elements,” Polachek wrote.
Numerous loose ends had to be tied up: Agreement was reached with Verizon regarding the communications tower layout, SMC staff coordinated with LA County on the final environmental testing, Vanir Construction Management conducted a constructability review of the contract documents prior to being submitted to the state and contractors were solicited to prequalify for the project.”
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THE PGE LOT
