Sidebar:  Malibu development battles

Development — and fighting over development — has long been part of Malibu’s political DNA. Here’s a historical primer:

Nuclear plant: Proposal was made in the early 1960s to build what would have been the nation’s largest nuclear power plant at Corral Canyon and Pacific Coast Highway. Angry residents hired geologists to study the plans and found an active earthquake fault. The idea was eventually dropped.

Malibu mega-city: In the late 1960s, Los Angeles County mulled a development plan that could have expanded Malibu’s population to 400,000. As The Times reported, “The plan basically would have extended Santa Monica to the end of Malibu, connecting the coastal communities with a huge array of condominiums, apartments and businesses.” After much protesting, the plan was killed.

Freeway fight: In the 1970s, a plan to extend the Marina Freeway along the entire length of the Malibu coastline generated local ire. It was killed.

Finally, cityhood: Malibu became a city in 1990 amid concerns that plans for a new sewer system would bring more development. “When the last Chumash Indian left Malibu, he left a curse,” one developer told The Times shortly before cityhood was approved. “Malibu is filled with lots of people who are committed and a lot of others who ought to be.”

Edge’s compound: U2 guitarist the Edge sought in 2006 to build a residential compound on an unspoiled Malibu ridge. A battle ensued — and the issue still isn’t resolved.

Chaining chain stores: Malibu voters in 2014 approved Measure R, which gives the public the power to approve or deny commercial developments larger than 20,000 square feet and to limit the percentage of chain-type stores in new shopping centers. Opponents are now suing over the measure.

Source: Times reports