City, Coastal Panel Reach Pact on Beach Parking

After nearly a year of debate over parking controls at the Point Dume Headlands State Preserve, city officials have reached a preliminary agreement with the state Coastal Commission on the issue, officials said Wednesday.

Under the deal, a series of large boulders erected by the city on the oceanside of Cliffside Drive will remain in place to prevent people from parking on the environmentally sensitive headlands and blocking public views of the ocean, said City Atty. Christi Hogin.

The agreement requires the city to create eight parking spaces across from the boulders on the inland side of the street, and to make space for about 30 additional parking spaces on adjacent residential streets.

The Coastal Commission will pay for the cost of placing a state parks employee at the site for three years under the settlement, Hogin said.

The commission last May issued a cease-and-desist order requiring that Malibu remove the 3- to 4-foot boulders that blocked off a 1,000-foot stretch of Cliffside, which is a popular access route for Zuma and Westward beaches. The city immediately filed suit against the commission, contending that the parking controls were a local issue.

The preliminary agreement should be finalized by early April, Hogin said.