RICHARD NAVA
News Assistant
Malibu residents in the Rambla Pacifico area, which intersects with Pacific Coast Hwy near Los Flores Cyn., have taken a course of action to make their neighborhood more accessible to its homeowners and more readily usable in the event of an evacuation.
Residents of the area have to drive an extra four miles, or 15 minutes around their homes to reach their neighborhood. In addition to the inconvenience, there is also a path into the hillside. Residents say they fear a nearby fire in the Rambla Pacifico area, as occurred in the fire of 1993, in which they may be forced to drive into the flames in order to escape them. This also concerns the fire department, as they may not be able to reach the homes in question during such an emergency.
“It really is a weird road,” Malibu resident Dane Sangbord said of the area. “The route it takes you probably isn’t the most efficient.”
In an attempt to rectify the situation, homeowners plan to build an adjoining road, which will connect to Rambla Pacifico. However, the petition to build a road connecting to Rambla Pacifico actually began in 1984 after a major landslide destroyed 11 homes.
All proposals, plans and requests have been unsuccessful since then, and several subsequent slides have further complicated the issue.
Now, however, residents seem to have found a way around the problem. Because of the less-than-favorable position and location of the area proposed for the building of the road, it is impossible for the city to build a road consistent with safety standards.
If the road is privately built and privately funded, on the other hand, than the project can be completed.
Each of the 57 Rambla Pacifico homeowners behind the project will pay about $20,000 for the building of the road, according to the homeowner’s association Vice President Leslie Barrett. Because of the significant cost of the project, the homeowner’s association has decided that only those who pay the fee will be able to use the road. It is not clear how this policy will be enforced.
The road will be open to all residents in times of emergency or evacuation, Barrett said.
As far as the city of Malibu is concerned, both the fire department and mayor are in full support of the plan.
“We need to build this road so that the residents can get out of that area when they need to,” Mayor Ken Kearsley said, “And as soon as the final plans come in, we’ll vote on it.”
Mayor Kearsley has also been working with the homeowner’s association to try and get them a permit to build as soon as possible.
One problem with the proposed road, however, is that it would have to be built across private property belonging to non-resident Guy Poulin whose father built Pop’s Pass, a private road in the Rambla Pacifico area. Because Poulin’s property is closed to the public, the building of the road would mean opening it up and making it accessible to the Malibu residents. The homeowner’s association is still trying to gain the cooperation of Poulin, and hopes that it will be the last item needed to complete the proposal and put the building in motion.
Poulin was unavailable for comment.
Though it is not clear which way the city council will lean on the issue, Kearsley is confidant that it will be in favor of the new road.
“The council is concerned for the safety of the Malibu residents,” Kearsley said. “I am sure they will vote for safety.”
11-16-2006