Malibu Residents In Public Without Face-Coverings Face $50 Fine

MALIBU, CA — Malibu residents who are in public without face-coverings will face a $50 fine if they refuse to immediately comply with a new city ordinance that was approved by the city council on Monday night.

The measure passed with a 4-1 vote just a month after the council rejected an urgency mask ordinance that was proposed by Mayor Mikke Pierson. That ordinance request, which required a supermajority to pass, failed by a 3-2 vote of the council.

A month later, the ordinance which includes the $50 fine for every offense a person is not wearing a mask or face-covering in public received only one vote against, which came from councilman Rick Mullen. Mullen, along with Mayor Pro Tem Skylar Peak voted against the urgency ordinance last month.

The new ordinance will remain in place until a local health emergency order from state and local officials is lifted, according to city officials. The measure will face a second reading at the council’s Oct. 26 meeting and includes a number of exceptions, including one that does not force residents to wear face-coverings while they are in their vehicles.

In addition, the ordinance allows residents to be without face-coverings if they are in a residential area and at least six feet away from anyone who is not a member of their immediate family. Residents must also wear face-coverings at restaurants and bars except for times when they are eating or drinking.

At last month's meeting, Pierson said he had been urged by many residents to seek the passage of an ordinance, which other officials have said has been lacking since the coronavirus began in mid-March.

"To me this isn't really about us, it's about other people," Pierson said in September. "I would err on the side of caution - I'm all for getting the economy going again and slowing this thing down any way we can is worth it...I want to get to a point where we don't have to wear a mask."

The ordinance requires residents to wear masks or face-coverings over their mouths and noses and bans certain masks that have openings around the chin area. The only people exempt from the ordinance are those who are under 2 years of age, that have medical conditions that keep them from wearing a mask or that need to communicate with people who are deaf or hearing impaired.

Residents are also not permitted to wear face shields without masks or masks with valves, vents or bandana-style face-coverings that leave the chin exposed.

“It really is requiring face coverings for those times when you are at risk from either contracting or spreading the coronavirus,” Malibu City Attorney Christi Hogin said, according to the Malibu Surfside News.