Council Passes Tobacco Regulation

Compliance checks will be conducted on the 16 stores that sell tobacco in Malibu to ensure tobacco is not being sold to minors. The council also approved an amendment to the city's Local Coastal Program and agreed to hold a fourth public meeting of Busch Drive property owners to discuss clearing encroachments from the road.

To fight what critics call the glaring problem of tobacco sales to underage youth in Malibu, the City Council passed an ordinance at its regular meeting Monday night requiring the 16 stores that sell tobacco in Malibu to register with the city for a tobacco license. The council also agreed that a fourth public meeting should be held with Busch Drive property owners to discuss clearing encroachments along the road, and approved an amendment to the city's Local Coastal Program that will likely affect only very wealthy beachfront property owners.

The “Tobacco Retailers Registration Ordinance,” as it is officially called, will go into effect Nov. 14. Once registered, the stores would be subject to three undercover sting operations per year to assure compliance. The operations would involve a young person, called a “youth decoy” and hired by the city, attempting to buy tobacco products from the stores. If a store were caught selling tobacco products to minors, it would lose its tobacco registration for a minimum of three months before it could reapply. Repeat offenses would result in longer waiting periods.

The ordinance was brought to the council by Mayor Pro Tem Laura Rosenthal at the council's July 27 meeting after she was contacted by anti-teen smoking activists. Several speakers at that meeting said it was far too easy for minors to buy tobacco in Malibu.

Malibu resident Amber Tachdijian said she had been the guardian for a student at Malibu High School, where it was known that Malibu was “a pretty easy place to buy cigarettes.” Tachdijian said several of the student's friends in Santa Monica purchased cigarettes in Malibu, since it was known to be easier to do so here.

Several speakers applauded the council's decision on Monday.

“Thank you for taking steps to protect our children from a demonstrable threat to their health and well-being,” Malibu resident William McCarthy said.

City to hold fourth public meeting on Busch Drive encroachments

The council also agreed that city staff should hold a fourth meeting with Busch Drive property owners to discuss clearing encroachments that have grown up along the road. The council wants to reclaim eight feet of the public right of way on either side of the road, where trees, mailboxes and fences have accumulated over time and severely reduced visibility on turns.

The council hopes the cleared area will make the road safer and possibly prevent liability lawsuits against the city. Meetings with homeowners were previously held on Oct. 23, 2010, as well as Feb. 4 and Sept. 20 of this year. At those meetings residents cited as the overwhelming reason for the dangerous conditions on the road is that motorists drive too fast. They say they want to explore ways of reducing the speed.

The council had the option of directing staff to explore building a walkway alongside the road, but decided against it due to projected costs to the city ranging from $100,000 to $500,000.

The council also approved a minor modification to the city's Local Coastal Program, albeit one only likely to be used by the very wealthy. The amendment allows beachfront property owners building new houses to skirt the rule requiring 20 percent of their parcel for a public view corridor, with one condition. The property owner must buy a second beachfront parcel adjacent to publicly owned beachfront property, i.e., a county beach, and donate it to the public agency with deed restrictions to keep the parcel vacant and provide a view to the public. Planning Department Director Joyce Parker-Bozylinski stated that there are currently 16 private parcels in Malibu adjacent to publicly owned beachfront that would qualify under the new amendment.