City Proposes Field Lights for Malibu High

Two years after the California Coastal Commission denied the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District permission for field lights at , the city will bring a new proposal for the lights to the state panel in October.

The city's proposal, which is attached to this article, calls for Malibu's Local Coastal Program to be amended to allow the following:

"Limited lighting of the main sports field at public high schools during pacific standard time until 7:30 p.m., except that for 18 days in any 12-month period up to 10:30 p.m. The school district shall obtain a conditional use permit from the city pursuant to Malibu Municipal Code Chapter 17.66."

Prior to the October 2009 Coastal Commission hearing, Malibu High had been using temporary lights for football games. This was done in violation of a coastal development permit for athletic facility upgrades that was granted in 2000, but nobody made a public complaint for many years. Eventually it became an issue, and the school district requested an amendment to the permit to allow temporary lights.

The Coastal Commission rejected this request at the October 2009 hearing in Oceanside, despite its staff recommending approval. The commission's justification was that the city's LCP did not allow it. The current city proposal would change this feature of the LCP.

Coastal Commission Deputy Director Jack Ainsworth told the commission at the 2009 hearing that the portion of the LCP stating lighted "sports courts" were not allowed was intended to apply to private homes, not a high school. This did not persuade the commissioners.

"I don't know how you can just say at this point, 'Oops we didn't mean to put that there,'" said then-Commissioner Sara Wan, who is a Malibu resident and . "Whether you meant it or not, it's there. You can't treat an LCP that way. You can't treat what's in the LCP and say, ‘Oh it doesn't matter and this entire table has no meaning.' Because if you say that's the case, then you say it for everything else that's in this table." 

The location of the meeting has not been determined. The Coastal Commission's website says it will take place Oct. 5-7 in either Los Angeles County or Orange County.

Editor's Note: A previous edition of this article stated the city presented a proposal for lights at Malibu High School in 2009. It was the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District.