Malibu Municipal Code Ch. 12 Public Access Ordinance

A. The purpose of the Public Access Chapter is to achieve the basic state goals of maximizing public access to the coast and public recreational opportunities, as set forth in the California Coastal Act codified at sections 30000 through 30900 of the California Public Resources Code (PRC). PRC Section 30001.5(c) states that public access both to and along the shoreline shall be maximized consistent with sound resource conservation principles and constitutionally protected rights of private property owners.

B. To implement the public access and recreation policies of Chapter 3 of the Coastal Act (Sections 30210-30255).

C. To implement the certified land use plan of the City's Local Coastal Program which is required by Section 30500(a) of the Act to include a specific public access component to assure that maximum public access to the coast and public recreation areas is provided.

D. In achieving these purposes, this chapter shall be given the most liberal construction possible so that public access to the navigable waters shall always be provided and protected consistent with the goals, objectives, and policies of the California Coastal Act and Article X, Section 4, of the California Constitution.

A. Lateral public access provides public access and use along or parallel to the sea or shoreline.

B. Bluff top access provides public access and coastal viewing along a coastal bluff top area.

C. Vertical access provides a public access connection between the first public road, trail, or public use area nearest the sea and the publicly owned shoreline, tidelands or established lateral access.

D. Trail access provides public access (i.e. hiking and equestrian) along a coastal or mountain recreational path, including to and along canyons, rivers, streams, wetlands, lagoons, freshwater marshes, significant habitat and open space areas or similar resource areas, and which also may link inland trails or recreational facilities to the shoreline.

E. Recreational access provides public access to coastal recreational resources through means other than those listed above, including but not limited to parking facilities, viewing platforms and blufftop parks.

A. Pass and repass refers to the right of the public to walk and run along an accessway. Because this use limitation can substantially restrict the public's ability to enjoy adjacent publicly owned tidelands by restricting the potential use of lateral accessways, it will be applied only in connection with vertical access or other types of access where the findings required by Section 12.7.3 of the Malibu LIP establish that the limitation is necessary to protect natural habitat values, topographic features (such as eroding bluffs), or privacy of the landowner. This subsection shall not apply to lateral public access requirements or dedications along the shoreline.

B. Passive recreational use refers to the right of the public to conduct activities normally associated with beach use, such as walking, swimming, jogging, sunbathing, fishing, surfing, picnicking, but not including organized sports, campfires, or vehicular access other than for emergencies or maintenance.

C. Active recreational use refers to the right of the public to conduct the full range of beach-oriented activities, not including horseback riding and use of motorized vehicles unless specifically authorized.

12.4 ACCESS REQUIRED. As a condition of approval and prior to issuance of a permit or other authorization for any new development identified in A through D of this section, except as provided in Section 12.5 of the Malibu LIP, an offer to dedicate an easement or a grant of easement (or other legal mechanism pursuant to Section 12.7.1(b) of the Malibu LIP) for one or more of the types of access identified in Section 12.2 (a-e) of the Malibu LIP shall be required and shall be supported by findings required by Sections 12.7.3-12.9 of the Malibu LIP; provided that no such condition of approval shall be imposed if the analysis required by Sections 12.7.3 (a) through (d) of the Malibu LIP establishes that the development will not adversely affect, either individually or cumulatively, the ability of the public to reach and use public tidelands and coastal resources or that the access dedication requirement will not alleviate the access burdens identified.

A. New development on any parcel or location specifically identified in the Land Use Plan or in the LCP zoning districts as appropriate for or containing an historically used or suitable public access trail or pathway.

B. New development between the nearest public roadway and the sea.

C. New development on any site where there is substantial evidence of a public right of access to or along the sea or public tidelands, a blufftop trail or an inland trail acquired through use or a public right of access through legislative authorization.

D. New development on any site where a trail, bluff top access or other recreational access is necessary to mitigate impacts of the development on public access where there is no feasible, less environmentally damaging, project alternative that would avoid impacts to public access.

Section 12.4 of the Malibu LIP shall apply except in the following instances:

A. Projects excepted from the definition of "new development" at Section 2.1 of the Malibu LIP.

B. Where findings required by Sections 12.7.3 and 12.8.1 of the Malibu LIP establish any of the following:

1. Public access is inconsistent with the public safety, military security needs, or protection of fragile coastal resources.

2. Adequate access exists nearby.

C. Exceptions identified in (b) shall be supported by written findings required by Section 12.9 of the Malibu LIP.

12.8.1 Standards and Procedures. Upon final approval of a coastal development permit or other authorization for development, and where issuance of the permit or authorization is conditioned upon the applicant recording a legal document which restricts the use of real property or which offers to dedicate or grant an interest or easement in land for public use, a copy of the permit conditions, findings of approval and drafts of any legal documents proposed to implement the conditions shall be forwarded to the California Coastal Commission for review and approval prior to the issuance of the permit consistent with Section 13.19 of the Coastal Development Permit Chapter of the Malibu LIP and California Code of Regulations Section 13574.

In addition to permit and application submittal requirements established elsewhere in this LCP New Development pursuant to Section 2.1 of the Malibu LIP shall be subject to the following additional permit and/or application requirements.

A. In order to maximize public access and recreation opportunities at existing public beaches or parks limitations on time of use or increases in use fees or parking fees, which effect the intensity of use, shall be subject to a Coastal Development Permit.

B. The City shall not close, abandon, or render unusable by the public any existing accessway which the City owns, operates, maintains, or is otherwise responsible for unless determined to be necessary for public safety without first obtaining a Coastal Development Permit.

C. Any limitation on existing public access to or along a beach, trail, or bluff located in a sensitive habitat area determined to be necessary for temporary protection of habitat, restoration, repair and/or maintenance shall be for the minimum period necessary but shall not exceed the nesting season for shorebird habitat or be greater than 90 days for habitat restoration or 30 days for repair and maintenance, and shall require a Coastal Development Permit. Any limitation for purposes of protecting or restoring habitat shall be subject to review and approval, where required, from the Department of Fish & Game and U.S. Fish and Wildlife, shall be restricted to the minimum area necessary to protect the habitat and shall be supported by the review and approval of the City biologist, Environmental Review Board or other designated qualified professional. Access to or along public tidelands or areas subject to an accepted and opened Offer to Dedicate or grant of easement shall not be fully restricted.

D. No signs shall be posted on a beachfront or on public beach unless authorized by a Coastal Development Permit. Signs shall not restrict public access to lands to which the public has a right of access (including, but not limited to, state tidelands, vertical or lateral public access easements, or deed restricted areas that grant public access). Signs on beachfront properties which purport to identify the boundary between lands to which the public has a right of access and private property over which there are no such rights must be accurate and not misleading, and where such boundary is ambulatory (such as where it is defined based on the location of the MHTL) the ambulatory nature of the boundary and the existence and nature of the applicable public rights must be clearly conveyed.

E. Improvements and/or opening of accessways already in public ownership or that are accepted pursuant to an offer to dedicate required by a Coastal Development Permit shall be permitted regardless of the distance from the nearest available vertical accessway.

F. No new structures or reconstruction, except for routine repair and maintenance or to replace a structure destroyed by natural disaster in accordance with PRC Section 30610(d) and (g), shall be permitted on a bluff face, except for engineered staircases or accessways to provide public shoreline access where no feasible alternative means of public access exists.

G. All applications for new development located along the shoreline or fronting a beach shall include the submittal of a review and/or determination in writing from the State Lands Commission that addresses the proposed project relative to its location or proximity to, or impact upon, the boundary between public tidelands and private property. Any application for development on or along the shoreline filed without such determination shall be determined to be incomplete for filing.

H. Coastal Development Permit application filing requirements shall include the submittal of mapped documentation identifying the location of any existing recorded shoreline or inland trail OTDs, deed restrictions, or easements on the subject parcel(s).

A. The City may approve new luxury overnight visitor accommodations if the evidence shows and the City finds, that the project provides a component of lower cost overnight visitor accommodations, such as a campground, RV park, hostel, or lower cost hotel or motel rooms. The lower cost overnight accommodations may be provided, either onsite, offsite, or through payment of an in-lieu fee to the City for deposit into a fund to subsidize the construction of lower cost overnight facilities in the Malibu-Santa Monica Mountains Coastal Zone area of Los Angeles County or Ventura County. The applicant shall be required to provide lower cost overnight accommodations consisting of fifteen (15) percent of the number of luxury overnight accommodations that are approved. Luxury overnight accommodations shall be defined as the point at which the cost of an overnight room exceeds 120 percent of the median cost of an overnight room for all overnight accommodations in the City of Malibu.

B. If the applicant chooses the in-lieu fee option, the project approval shall be conditioned to require that, prior to issuance of the coastal development permit, the applicant shall pay the required in-lieu fee to the City. The amount of the in-lieu fee shall be $10,419 per required unit of lower cost overnight accommodations, plus an additional amount for inflation from January 2000 to the date of approval of the coastal development permit. If the City completes a fee study to determine the appropriate in-lieu fee, which provides the necessary mitigation, the in-lieu fee requirement may be revised accordingly.

C. The City may transfer any funds paid as an in-lieu fee under this section to a public agency, non-profit organization or private entity after entering a Memorandum of Understanding or other contractual agreement that requires use of the funds for construction of lower cost overnight visitor accommodations in the Malibu-Santa Monica Mountains Coastal Zone area of Los Angeles County or Ventura County and requires that the accommodations remain lower cost, unless an LCP amendment is certified that allows modification.

(Ord. 303 § 3, 2007; Ord. 520, 8/12/2024)