Malibu: Cityhood and Sewers

The controversy over the pace and scale of development in Malibu is wrapped in the high rhetoric of cityhood and the low reality of sewage. In their push for a vote on incorporation, which is nearing final approval by the Los Angeles County Local Agency Formation Commission, the people of Malibu hope to exercise more control over the fate of their community. The people of greater Los Angeles also have a stake in what happens in Malibu. The beach belongs to them as much as it does to the fortunate few who are able to enjoy the sunset over the Pacific every evening.

The incorporation drive raises several important questions: Who would best preserve the qualities that make Malibu a special and spectacular part of Los Angeles County, the residents of Malibu or the current governing body--the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors? Could Malibu responsibly manage its local sewage problem? Would the new city of Malibu be economically viable?

The 1976 Coastal Act precludes Malibu from becoming another Miami Beach or Waikiki, with densely packed high-rises stacked between the surf and the sky. In addition, the community of 20,000 fought to restrict future growth to 6,582 residences--about half what county supervisors originally proposed. People who live in Malibu are better equipped to determine the balance between development and conservancy than is the distant, and sometimes hostile, county government.

The county argues that the lack of a comprehensive sewer system in Malibu constitutes a health danger. It is certainly true that the septic tanks in Malibu are vulnerable to storm damage. And being limited to one flush an hour is a restriction that people who live east of Pacific Coast Highway would see as a major inconvenience. But the county as yet has failed to demonstrate that there is an imminent danger to public health. And, as Malibu residents point out, sewage systems have failures as well--as was the case last week in Laguna Beach. The residents of Malibu need a better sewage system than they have now, but not necessarily the $86-million-plus, big-is-beautiful sewer plan pushed by the county.

In a double irony, the future rate of growth in Malibu may be restricted because the development that has occurred in the last 10 years has created a sufficient tax base for cityhood, and voters may decide that the increase in taxes and fees from current levels that cityhood may entail is less painful than the astronomical assessments that residents face for the county sewer plan.

Malibu has a distinctive identity and a sense of community--two important qualities of a self-governing body. The evidence seems to support the move for local control and incorporation. It also supports the need for a sewer system of some kind to replace the aging septic tanks. And the new city of Malibu would have to face up to this fact.