Malibu Municipal Code § 1.2 Existing Conditions

The following provides a summary and an overview of existing land uses in the City of Malibu. The material is based on information in the Land Use Background Report, which is provided in the Technical Appendix to the Malibu General Plan.

Malibu was developed as a residential community with occasional neighborhood service facilities such as a restaurant or grocery store located on or adjacent to Pacific Coast Highway. The area remains a "haven" for people who prefer a quiet, small coastal town close to Los Angeles or other urban centers. Most residents live in the community all year and others visit seasonally or whenever they can leave the urban area.

Development in Malibu first occurred along the coast in the late 1920s. As Malibu grew, those seeking ocean views with more privacy expanded into the canyons and hillsides. As a result the City reflects characteristics of both a beach area, and a rural community.

The City has retained its rural residential characteristic. Small businesses such as real estate, law firms and medical practices are located in Malibu, but only as neighborhood serving enterprises. The local employment base remains focused in a few major employers such as the Hughes research facility and, adjacent to the City, Pepperdine University. Many residents commute to Santa Monica, Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley or Ventura County.

The more intensive land uses, such as commercial and multifamily, have tended to cluster on both sides of Pacific Coast Highway. Single-family residential neighborhoods are scattered in the hills. Although the City is characterized by vast amounts of vacant land, only a small portion is suitable for development because of the following constraints: steep hillsides, unstable soil and subsurface conditions, extreme fire hazard, and sensitive environmental resources.

Prior to incorporation, land use planning in the City was governed by the Malibu Land Use Plan (LUP) and the County of Los Angeles Zoning Ordinance. The existing distribution and extent of development in Malibu is a reflection of the planning practices of both the County of Los Angeles and the California Coastal Commission. The City is dominated by three land uses—open space (approximately 15% of the City), vacant land (approximately 60% of the City), and residential land (22%). Table 1-1 provides the distribution of existing land uses within the City.[1] Similar land uses have been grouped together. A generalized land use map indicating the location and extent of existing land uses is provided in Figures LU-1A to LU-1D.

Residential

Residential land uses constitute the majority of developed land. Residential uses include single-family, multiple-family, and mobile home developments (as shown in Table 1-1, Existing Land Use).

Table 1-1 EXISTING LAND USE

(Sources: County of Los Angeles Regional Planning Department, City of Malibu General Plan Task Force and Harland Bartholomew and Associates, 1990)

Single-Family—The single-family residential category includes high density (more than two units per acre) and low density (less than two units per acre) uses. The lower density single-family development is more dominant than higher density development. Higher densities are generally found along the beaches while low density development is in the hillsides and canyon areas of the City.

Single-family homes sit on lots ranging from small clusters of approximately 10,000 square feet up to large parcels of 40 acres or more. Single-family homes dominate both the coastline and the canyons and hillsides from the City boundary on the east to approximately one mile west of Carbon Canyon Road. Residential neighborhoods are found along canyons such as Big Rock, Las Flores, Rambla Pacifico and Carbon Canyon.

Between Carbon Canyon and Puerco Canyon, there are concentrations of single-family homes interspersed with other types of development. These residential neighborhoods are primarily located along the beach, in the hills above the Civic Center, adjacent to Pepperdine University, and clustered near the arterial roadways. Puerco Canyon is the least developed for single-family residential. The area located between Latigo Canyon and the western city limits is characterized by single-family homes on both sides of Pacific Coast Highway extending into the hillsides. The largest concentration of residential neighborhoods is in the Point Dume area and the Malibu Park area, north of Pacific Coast Highway and Zuma Beach. Residential development is the primary land use along the coast between Malibu Park and the western boundary of the City, although there are higher density multifamily developments in the Civic Center area as well as in the Trancas Beach area.

Several rural-like residential neighborhoods exist in Malibu. Rural-like residential homes are located in an open setting and include backyard animal shelters, corrals, or pens for non-commercial horses or livestock. These areas contain both high and low density residential properties. The majority of the low density rural-like residential neighborhoods are located in the hillsides between Corral Canyon, Latigo Canyon and Ramirez Canyon. Higher density areas are located seaward of Pacific Coast Highway and Corral Canyon Road. Several pockets of rural-like residential neighborhoods are also found just west of Trancas Canyon and along Decker Canyon. In addition, there is a rural-like residential area located in the eastern portion of the City adjacent to the northern City boundary along Carbon Canyon Road, although most of the parcels along Carbon Canyon Road are 1 and 2 acres in size.

Multifamily—175.3 acres (or 6.5% of all land developed in Malibu for residential use) is multifamily. This category includes:

The majority of multifamily units in the City are low rise apartments, condominiums or townhouses. There are three areas of duplex, triplex or fourplex type units: along the coast between Las Tunas and Las Flores Canyon Drive, east of Malibu Colony, and on Point Dume on Dume Drive. The only area which contains medium-rise apartments is located north of Pacific Coast Highway and west of Kanan Dume Drive. In addition, there are medium-rise condominiums at Pacific Coast Highway and Zumeriz Road.

The largest concentration of multifamily residential is located in the westerly areas of the Civic Center north of Pacific Coast Highway. There are a few pockets of multifamily development scattered east of this area around Las Flores Canyon and between Puerco Canyon and Latigo Canyon south of Pacific Coast Highway. In the Point Dume area there are multifamily residential units located both north and south of Pacific Coast Highway. The only remaining two areas of multifamily development are located along Trancas Canyon and immediately west.

Mobile Homes—This category includes mobile homes, trailers and pre-fabricated housing which are either stationary with foundations or are capable of being moved. There are two mobile home parks in Malibu which account for about 101.8 acres or 3.8% of all residential development. The two parks are both located south of Pacific Coast Highway. The first is the Paradise Cove Mobile Home Park, located just east of Point Dume and the second is the Point Dume Mobile Home Park.

Commercial—Since it has been determined to retain its rural environment, there has been no emergence of a commercial center in the traditional sense. There are only about 184.9 acres of commercial land uses in the City which account for less than 2% of all land uses in the City. The stretch of Pacific Coast Highway just west of Carbon Canyon Road through the Civic Center represents the commercial core/strip of the City Commercial uses include retail and service space and commercial recreation.

Commercial retail and service uses include strip development containing retail, restaurant, service shops and offices along major traffic corridors with off-street parking, as well as retail centers which are non-strip development with contiguous interconnected off-street parking. These retail centers typically contain one magnet store, usually a supermarket. Commercial retail and service uses also include office uses as well as hotels and motels.

The commercial retail uses in Malibu are located primarily along the Pacific Coast Highway just east of the Civic Center, in the Civic Center and surrounding area, as well as Point Dume. There are scattered pockets of a few stand-alone commercial uses along both the north and south sides of Pacific Coast Highway throughout the City, such as that found at Trancas Canyon Road.

Office uses include low and medium rise professional office buildings such as, business, medical, dental, law, and public offices. The majority of office development is located in the Civic Center with a few office buildings located at Point Dume. Commercial retail and service uses account for about 145 acres of land and 78% of all commercial uses.

There are five motels and one hotel within the City. These land uses are identified as visitor-serving uses by the Coastal Commission and contribute to the satisfaction of required facilities for the Local Coastal Program. Two of the motels, the Malibu Country Inn and the Malibu Riviera Motel, are located in the Point Dume/Paradise Cove area. The other three motels, the Casa Malibu Motel, the Malibu Shores Motel and the Malibu Surfer Motel, and the Malibu Beach Inn Hotel are located within the commercial core of the City, just east of the Civic Center area. All are relatively small, ranging in size from 13 to 47 rooms. Collectively, the hotels and motels offer 151 rooms.

There are two commercial recreational uses located within the City. The first, the Malibu Racquet Club, is located just west of City Hall, and the second site, the Malibu Riding and Tennis Club, is located in the western end of the City.

Research and Development—The research and development use in the City is the Hughes Research Lab which is located on Malibu Canyon Road and accounts for less than 18 acres.

Public and Semi-Public Facilities—Public facilities which include government facilities, police stations, fire stations, religious institutions, libraries, community centers, parks and recreational facilities, as well as private and public educational facilities account for about one and one-half percent of all land uses within the City. These land uses are scattered throughout Malibu. There is a government center, City Hall, police station, public library, medical offices and the Webster Elementary School located in the Civic Center area. The Malibu Middle/High School and Juan Cabrillo Elementary School are located in West Malibu in the Malibu Park area. Located in Point Dume is the Pt. Dume Marine Science Elementary School. The public schools are owned and operated by the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. There are four fire stations located throughout the City, as well as County and State-operated maintenance facilities and vehicle storage yards. Religious institutions such as churches and synagogues are also located throughout the City.

Agricultural—Traditional farming and ranching is practiced in only a minute fraction of land within the City. Horticulture and horse ranches are more prevalent, usually as a transitional use or an adjunct to residential uses. Residents view preservation of these uses as important to the preservation of the rural atmosphere of the community.

Horticulture—The horticulture land use category includes both retail and wholesale commercial agricultural properties of the types normally found in Malibu. Horticultural land can be used for irrigated and non-irrigated cropland, such as avocado and herb fields, and improved pasture land for horses; orchards, vineyards, and nurseries; and other agriculture. Horticultural uses account for only 0.2% of all land use in the City, or 24.8 acres. While none of these areas are of state-wide importance, there are some areas of prime soils which are described more fully in the Conservation Element. These soils and the climate may combine to make some of these properties unique for horticultural purposes.

The croplands include cultivated, in crop, harvested, fallow, or temporarily idle land. The improved pasture land may be in pasture year-round or in the cropland seasonal rotation. There are three sites of this land use type located within the City. One site is located east of Kanan Dume Road between the City limits and Pacific Coast Highway, a second site is located north of Zuma Beach and Malibu Park, just south of the City limits, and the third site is located north of the Civic Center along the City boundary.

Orchards, vineyards, and nurseries represent the greatest majority of horticultural land uses. Orchards and vineyards are typically commercially productive tree, bush, and vine crops such as fruit and nut trees and bush crops. Nurseries include land managed for the production of ornamental trees, plants and flowers, vegetable seedlings, seed farms, sod farms, and wholesale greenhouses. These uses are scattered throughout the City and found typically on the north side of Pacific Coast Highway and on Point Dume. Many small plots have been developed on vacant residential lots and are devoted to such things as herbs and avocados. There are two nurseries located west of Trancas Canyon, two orchards located north of Point Dume, one nursery located just west of Pepperdine, and two nurseries and two orchards located in the Civic Center area.

No dairies, livestock, or poultry operations exist in Malibu. Other miscellaneous horticulture includes storage facilities, compost piles, hydroponic farms, fish hatcheries, and apiaries. The category also includes, backyard lots of mixed agricultural/nonagricultural uses. One of these sites is located north of Pacific Coast Highway, east of the Point Dume area, and another site is located north of the Civic Center on the City boundary.

Horse Ranches—Horse ranches are not specified on the existing land use map because in Malibu they include both commercial and noncommercial ranches, stables, tracks, barns and corral areas which have differing implications for planning. This land use falls under both residential and commercial. There are at least 38.7 acres of horse ranches in Malibu which account for at least 0.3% of total land in the City. The Los Angeles County existing land use data identify four horse ranches or such areas in the City. They are located in the hills above the Civic Center, the hills north of Paradise Cove, north of Pacific Coast Highway at the west end of Zuma Beach and north of Pacific Coast Highway between Decker Canyon and the western boundary of the City.

Public Open Space—Open space accounts for 14.9% of the total land in Malibu, making it the third most prevalent type of land use in Malibu. There are 1,869.9 acres of open space including regional and local parks, beach parks, and public open space used for recreation.

Local and regional parks make up 17.2 acres of the open space in Malibu. There is one local park in Malibu as defined by the Aerial Information Systems. Local parks are typically community parks or sports fields and their associated parking. Beach parks are not included in this designation. The 6.5 acre Malibu Community Center located on Point Dume is considered the only neighborhood park.

There are two regional parks in Malibu as defined by the Aerial Information Systems. Malibu Bluffs Park located at the mouth of Malibu Canyon which is approximately 8.7 acres and provides playing fields and the Michael Landon Community Center. The second regional park in Malibu is the Malibu Lagoon State Beach. The park is approximately 3.5 acres located just east of the Civic Center at the mouth of Malibu Creek. The Malibu Bluffs Park is heavily used by local residents, so is also considered a community park for recreation planning purposes. In addition, a portion of Charmlee Natural Area is also located within the City.

Beach parks and public open space used for recreation totaling 201 acres account for a large portion of the open space in Malibu. The most dominant land use in this category are the beach parks which are located throughout the City, along the coast.

Undeveloped Land—The land in Malibu is predominantly undeveloped. There are almost 7,296.5 acres of undeveloped land that account for about 58.1% of the total land within the City. Most of the undeveloped land in Malibu is in a natural state, containing tree, brush, shrub, or grassland vegetation. Undeveloped land includes: park land, environmentally sensitive lands, beaches, undeveloped land which may be suitable for development, abandoned agricultural land with limited improvements.

Beach areas include coastal beach areas which are not associated with a national, state, county, or a municipal beach park. In Malibu these beaches are typically private beaches. They are located along the coast extending from the east end of the City (Las Tunas Beach) to the western boundary of the City including the Las Flores, Big Rock, Carbon, La Costa and Big Rock Beach areas, Malibu Colony, Point Dume, Broad Beach, Lechuza Beach and the Encinal beaches.

(Resolution No. 11-23)

[1]

The land use map, land use designations (the descriptions of the designations are contained in the Southern California 1990 Aerial Land Use Study, Land Use Level III/IV Classification prepared by Aerial Information Systems), and associated acreage, were data provided by the County of Los Angeles Department of Regional Planning. The data for the map was developed using 1990 aerial photographs and a computer mapping program, Geographical Information System (GIS). This data was verified by members of the Malibu General Plan Task Force, confirmed by windshield survey by HBA staff, and compared against existing subdivisions. The acreage was measured by planimeter. Due to the use of aerial photographs, a margin of error should be assumed. For purposes of this analysis, it is assumed this error is random and does not affect the general distribution of land uses in the City.

According to the 1990 Census, it is estimated that there are currently a total of 5,621 residential units in the City.[1] Census statistics indicate that from 1980 to 1990 there was a slight increase in the development of multifamily dwelling units. This was accompanied by an increase in single-family dwelling units as well.

The population increased between 1980 and 1990 from 10,172 in 1980 to 11,116 in 1990, an increase of 9.3%.

These demographic trends indicate a pressure for continued growth. The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG), the regional planning agency for the six-county region, prepares population forecasts for the region, including individual cities. The SCAG projections for the City of Malibu are as follows:

Development constraints in Malibu may, however, prohibit significant future growth. Constraints are fully described in the Background Reports to the remaining Elements and addressed, as appropriate, in those Elements. Soon after incorporation, the City enacted a moratorium on all development with exceptions applying to single-family units. The moratorium expired on March 28, 1993.

The following is the housing and population breakdown between the City of Malibu and the unincorporated areas for April 1, 1990. It assumes that the adopted city boundaries were in place as of April 1, 1990. In this way, census data may be used to provide a baseline for all subsequent estimates for the City. The division between the City and the unincorporated areas was conducted by the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning, Population Research Section.

HOUSING

POPULATION

[1]

The surveys for the 1990 Census were conducted prior to Malibu's incorporation, and therefore the existing census tracts cover areas far greater than the City boundaries. To obtain estimates of the number of dwelling units and population, the County of Los Angeles Department of Regional Planning overlaid the city boundary upon the 1990 Census tract and block boundaries. Block level data was used to isolate housing counts between the City and unincorporated areas because the City lies within portions of four census tracts. Where the blocks were split by city boundaries, department staff in the field counted housing units within the portion of the block located within the City.