Consultants and stakeholders address FEIR for the Topanga Lagoon project

Public meeting addressed all aspects of the planned five-year project and explained next steps to be taken

The proposed expansion of the Topanga Lagoon and restoration of all or part of the historic Topanga Ranch Motel thatwas built in the 1930s and is owned by State Parks has been contemplated for more than two decades.

On Aug. 5, representatives from various involved state and county agencies and their consultants held a Zoom meeting to present the final environmental impact review and answer any questions from stakeholders.

The FEIR calls for renewing animal, fish, and bird habitats, protecting two endangered fish — the tidewater goby and steelhead trout, which only breeds in Topanga Creek in the Santa Monica Bay — and improving coastal access for visitors, consisting of a visitors pavilion, restrooms, and other amenities.

The expansive project budget will be finalized in the design phase and, to date, has cost an estimated $100 million, according to John Ota, an environmental scientist for California State Parks. The Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains is involved in the project and in its funding.

Representatives of the offices of Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, Assemblyperson Jaqui Irwin, Sen. Ben Allen, Congressman Brad Sherman, Los Angeles City Councilperson Traci Park, the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, California State Parks (which owns the land where the project is located), Caltrans, District 7 (which will spearhead the construction project), Los Angeles County Department of Beaches and Harbors (which operates the lagoon and beach), consulting architects and engineers, and interested citizens all gathered on the Zoom meeting. Representatives of the FEIR team presented a PowerPoint presentation providing an overview of all the options that officials and contracted consultants considered and their final recommendations.

After reviewing all alternatives that it rejected, the team stated the preferred alternative will include a reduced motel configuration that will restore up to 15 units of the Topanga Ranch Motel and expand the lagoon from its current 1.1 acres to 8 acres, according to Jamie King, one of the project managers of the Topanga Lagoon Restoration Project. The bridge that runs over the lagoon will be replaced and lengthened. The project also calls for an increase in visitor parking on the landside of the intersection of Topanga Boulevard and Pacific Coast Highway, improved visitor facilities and services, and a new area to accommodate a helipad, provide access for emergency services, and provide improvedlifeguard towers.

Details in the FEIR

“The California Environmental Quality Act is unique to our state and mandates that our team identify all potentially significant impacts to the environment for any project we undertake,” said Tom Barnes, the environmental associate who supported State Parks in the FEIR process. “The watershed is 185 square miles and is the second largest in the Santa Monica Mountains and we took many factors into account.”

The team members explained that their selected alternative project best meets natural and cultural resource protection goals and best improves coastal access, sea level rise resiliency, and visitor service opportunities.

In conducting the evaluation process, the team took into account the effect of storms in 2023 and 2024, which worsened the ongoing erosion to the motel slope and noted that slope stabilization for the full motel would likely result in creek disturbance and would impact species in the area. Accordingly, they concluded that the best option was to restore only 15 of the Topanga Ranch Motel rooms, especially since the area behind the motel is geologically fragile, as most recently evidenced by the fact that one of the structures fell into the creek last year.  Officials from various agencies and their consultants will determine what the renovated rooms will be used for during the design phase. Uses that are being considered include a museum, low-cost overnight accommodations, and a visitor’s center with interpretive elements.

With regard to the lagoon side of the project, Barbara Tejada, a cultural resources resources program manager at California State Parks, began by displaying old pictures of Topanga Lagoon dating back to 1876, the earliest known image of the mouth of Topanga Creek. Tejada noted significant changes to the lagoon over time, noting that in the past 150 years, 95 percent of California’s coastal wetlands have been lost due to development.

“This project is important for endangered fish as the constriction of the creek’s mouth has a fire hose effect and impedes steelhead trout, a species that has an anadromous life cycle, meaning that they travel from the ocean to freshwater,” Barnes explained.

Jamie King, a resource conservation biologist, explained that ultimately, after extensive deliberation concerning wastewater management options, they chose to install seepage pits, as opposed to extending the Pacific Coast Highway sewer to the affected area, because a geotechnical analysis evinced that there is very shallow groundwater.

Other details in the FEIR address relocation of emergency services with a new emergency helipad near the beach level and improved and expanded visitor services.

Attendees’ concerns and questions and the effect on businesses in the area

Dozens of residents of Topanga, Malibu, and surrounding neighborhoods submitted public comments during the FEIR comment period.

At the end of the Zoom meeting, Kathy Eldon, a resident of a neighborhood near the lagoon, expressed grave concerns regarding the “profound impact of traffic on nearby residents, other locals, businesses, and the approximately 15 million visitors who travel to Malibu annually over the projected five-year-long project.”

Various neighbors residing on parcels adjacent to the project expressed concerns that the project would exceed five years as well and felt that further studies regarding the impact on area neighborhoods should be conducted before the project proceeds.

Lloyd Ahern, who serves as president of a nearby homeowners association, expressed concerns about the logistics of project personnel relocating approximately 250,000 cubic feet of dirt away from the project, noting that large trucks are not allowed in Malibu other than those that are delivering within Malibu.

Rosi Dagit, senior conservation biologist at the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains, responded that the team is “very aware of restrictions on moving trucks in Malibu and has taken native soil samples from the hillsides, confirming that there are no contaminants or aerially deposited lead below the top one to two feet of soil — all the rest of the soil will be placed in the near shore for beneficial use.”

Various neighbors residing on parcels adjacent to the project expressed concerns that the project would exceed five years as well.

Project timeline

The FEIR will be finalized in September and the design phase will not be conducted until 2026, a process that includes design charette and complete design and permitting approvals from all relevant jurisdictions. In 2027, construction is scheduled to begin, and it will last until approximately 2032. Post-construction monitoring to ensure that ecosystems and habitats are developing and thriving will be conducted by State Parks for five years after the project is completed.

According to Dagit, after all the designs and permits are approved, the agencies will seek full funding to implement the entire project and they can quantify the budget when 65 percent of the design has been completed.

For more information:

Readers should visit the project website, topanga lagoon restoration.org, where they can access the FEIR and the meeting at the “What’s new” tab. Interested persons can also email topangalagoonrestoration@gmail.com .

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