Malibu Land Use Plan

The article (Editorial Pages, July 23) by state Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), urging adoption of the revised Malibu Land Use Plan, accurately portrays the struggle to preserve and protect our Southern California coastline.

The risks of environmentally unsafe land uses and overdevelopment in Malibu affect all of us, not just local residents. As taxpayers, we pay the price for landslides on geologically unsafe land; floods caused by inadequate drainage and natural conditions; and fires where there is poor access. As people, we face the deterioration of a precious natural resource and the quality of life.

Although the Coastal Commission has been widely criticized in exercising the mandate by California voters to protect and preserve our coastline, the absence of such authority would surely lead to the permanent loss of coastal access, recreational land uses, and the preservation of scenic beauty.

The issue before the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors is not one of pro-development versus no development. The Malibu Land Use Plan, as revised by the Coastal Commission, does nothing more than ensure that the beaches and community of Malibu are not ruined by over-development and environmentally unsound land uses.

It is time for the Board of Supervisors to accept its responsibility by adopting the revised Malibu Land Use Plan without further delay.

The public enjoyment of Malibu beaches and its coastline cannot be replaced. But the same does not hold true for those members of the Board of Supervisors and other elected officials who prove themselves unworthy of upholding the public trust.

ROB GLUSHON

Los Angeles

Glushon is president of the Environmental Quality Board for the City of Los Angeles.