Deal could end dispute in Malibu

Joe Edmiston became a hero to many of the rich and famous residents of Malibu as he helped snatch thousands of acres of open land from developers and preserve it for public use.

The head of the state-funded Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy even has a certificate from former Eagles drummer Don Henley: "For your tireless efforts to save open space in the Los Angeles area."

However, support quickly dwindled after the conservancy unveiled a plan to create hiking trails and to open up a rustic estate donated by Barbra Streisand for weddings and other events.

"When you're saving land from a developer you're the hero," Edmiston said. "But when you're opening it up to the public who paid to save it from the developer, you're the enemy."

A long-running battle over the plan could finally end if the City Council signs off on a proposal that it will see for the first time Monday. It would allow hiking trails and campgrounds in exchange for locating a campground farther from multimillion-dollar homes and allowing more public involvement in the planning. The council will take a final vote after a series of public meetings.

"We put down our swords and have the interest of the environment at heart," Malibu Mayor Ken Keasly said. "We're really sitting around the campfire and singing 'Kumbaya' together."

Malibu residents relish their privacy and worry that campers will bring traffic, trash and an increased fire danger to their tranquil seaside enclave.

"Their position is that those who can best protect it are the people who live next to it, but then it becomes nature too precious to use," Edmiston said.

"Having a glass wall and people pressing their noses against it watching the ultra-rich as they walk their dogs is not going to work for very long," he said

The conservancy under Edmiston has used state bond money and other funding to acquire more than 62,000 acres of land in some of the most coveted areas of Southern California, including Malibu.

However, its initial good will began to disappear after Streisand donated her lush 22-acre estate to the agency in 1993.

The conservancy opened its headquarters there and moved to set up what it promised would be an academic think-tank called the Barbra Streisand Center for Conservancy Studies. But when interest in conferences lagged, the conservancy began renting out the estate for weddings and garden tours to pay for maintaining its five houses and grounds.

Neighboring homeowners complained about music and catering trucks, and also fear that more traffic could block narrow roads during brush fires.

Homeowners sued in 1999, and the conservancy eventually halted the events. Streisand asked that her name be removed from the center, and it was renamed Ramirez Canyon Park.

Last year, the conservancy proposed reintroducing the activities as part of a new plan that also calls for linking hiking trails through Malibu into a single coastal system with about 30 camp sites, and for creating a camp for disabled children.

That plan roused more angst among homeowners. Henley sided with the city but declined to comment through his spokesman, Larry Solters.

The conservancy bypassed the city and took its case directly to the California Coastal Commission, the state agency that regulates development along the coast. That angered local officials, and the city threatened to sue.

"This is the rub," said Mayor Keasly, a retired school teacher who bought his Malibu home in 1962 for $38,000. "We're pictured as people who got ours and are pulling up the carpet and closing the door. That's not true."

Before a lawsuit was filed, the two sides began talks and reached the tentative agreement last week.

There's no decision yet if the conservancy will be permitted to hold weddings or offer camping for the disabled.

Edmiston said the agency plans to seek permission from the City Council but reserves the right to appeal to the coastal commission.

"Nobody objected to Barbra Streisand having 500-person events and limousines driving in," Edmiston said. "We're a bunch of nerds, and that's what they object to."