An interesting debate here between home builders in Malibu, and the Coastal Commission.
The designers and builders insist that they have taken great care in working with nature, and think the Coastal Commission should allow these types of projects, because only five houses would be built on just one of the 156 acres.
Here is the introductory video from the builders’ website, www.leavesinthewind.com:
Leaves In The Wind from Ecofusion2 on Vimeo.
The main principal is David Evans (The Edge), guitarist for the band U2, who bought the land in 2006 to build a home for his family. The California Coastal Commission staff is now recommending a denial of the project over how the project ownership was presented – because the builders submitted five separate plans, one for each house.
For those considering building a home in a CCC-regulated area, click through to the article to get a feel for the scrutiny – here’s an excerpt:
The project has been pending before the commission for several years and has been previously postponed. After the commission in 2009 expressed concerns about its effects on views, fire risk and the amount of earth that would have to be moved, Evans and his partners modified their plans, lowering building heights and backing them away from the edge in what Vanden Berg said has “resulted in nearly a complete re-design for each of the proposed houses.”
Officials for the CCC say that they might approve two or three houses on a less-visible site – why didn’t they say that in 2009? Watch yourself – it’s looks like a moving target.
Money fixes everything…even the environment.
While I respect the mission of the coastal commission, they are like the worst HOA on the planet when it comes to enforcing ludicrous rules that serve only the desires of people who “got there first.”
The article at LA Times makes it sound like the problem isn’t so much the Coastal Commission as it is neighbors and other groups who don’t want large houses built on the ridgeline.
“Environmental groups and residents of the canyons and hillsides below have lined up against the project, saying that it is out of harmony for a member of a band that has championed humanitarian and green causes and even tried to offset the carbon footprint of its tours.”
Seems to me that what’s missing from the designer’s video is renders of what the houses would look like when viewed from inland. The stated mission of the CC is to ensure that development on the coastline keeps it looking relatively unspoiled for the people who only get to drive by it. That’s why it was voted into existence by the majority of Californians who will never get to live there.
Im in the construction bussiness and got the shock of my life two months ago on a job in Malibu. I asked the general contractor on the job to see the blueprints on the sewer, he said he had none and there are no sanitary sewer system in Malibu. The city inspector/consultant on the job told me it’s the little dirty secret of the Santa Monica Bay. No Sewer System in Malibu and all septic systems have leached into the watershed and flow to the ocean.
Hundreds of trucks drive into Malibu in early hours of the morning to pump out septic systems and sewage holding tanks for commercial properites and eating establishments.
Now just think about that no sewers in Malibu and its 2011. The enviromental folks in Malibu shot down the LA County plan for sewers in the late 1980’s and they became a city in 1991.
They should have let the Edge build and then be the example of what great things you CAN do when building in beautiful places. Heck, make a clause in there that says they mow it down if they vote it looks bad