MALIBU—On Monday, July 26, the Malibu City Council determined the fate of the Crummer site and a marijuana dispensary named Green Angel.
Since his purchase of the 24-acre site, back in 2005 from the Crummer family for an amount that remains a secret, owner Steve Ackerman, is considering building five luxury homes on the property. Ackerman is in concession with the city of Malibu for a development agreement, which states that Ackerman should donate a 1.75-acre parcel to the city for parkland. In order to disprove the idea that Malibu is seen as a city that doesn’t want visitors from the outside, the idea of a ball park was suggested to promote visitations by outsiders, showing Malibu in a different light.
As for the marijuana dispensary, Green Angel, was operating since 2006, but to comply with the city of Malibu’s marijuana law, which began in 2008, the dispensary was denied a permit in the same year, due to the distance between the facility and the Las Flores Creek Park.
The Malibu Council also voted to reduce the distance allowed between marijuana dispensaries and protected facilities, such as religious worship centers, schools and parks, changing it from a 1,000-foot radius to a 500-foot radius. The city staff gave three options;
- To allow the dispensary to stay where it’s at, if it has been at an existing location since at least Jan. 1, 2007
- To be within 500 feet of parks and playgrounds, specifically if the dispensary could not be seen from the park or playground
- To allow the dispensary to be within 500 feet of parks or playgrounds regardless of whether the dispensary could be seen from them.
Canyon News spoke to Laura Z. Rosenthal, member of the Malibu City Council, about their decision on both the Crummer site and the marijuana dispensary. “I voted with the rest of my Council members and agreed with the staff report to DENY a Zone Text Amendment that would have allowed Green Angel to be within a 1,000-foot radius of a park. While I am a big supporter of medical marijuana, I did not feel the need to amend our laws for this dispensary. There are other places that they could open up in Malibu that would fit within the law,” stated Rosenthal.
Rosenthal also said, “Regarding the Crummer site, we decided to let the LCPA kind of expire so that the applicant can go back and go through the planning process and the city can weigh in on some issues. This project kind of did the opposite of other projects – coastal first, then city. I think that everyone will have a better chance of getting what they need and want this way.”
