that would require Malibu to follow strict state standards for protecting its fragile coastal ecosystem and providing broader public access.
More than 250 angry residents turned out for the meeting. Most opposed the commission’s plan, which designates nearly half the city as environmentally sensitive habitat and limits development in those areas.
Horse breeder and former ad executive Eliot White said he would no longer be able to keep more than 15 horses on his five-acre property and might lose his livelihood.
“I invested everything I owned for this dream of a horse farm,” he said.
Wade Major accused the commission of trying to make the city “a paradise to visitors and a hell for residents.”
But Steve Hoye, director of Access For All, a nonprofit group that has pushed to open the pathway near Geffen, applauded the commission’s plan.
“If you choose to build a city 27 miles along the beach you have accepted a responsibility to the public,” Hoye said.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on September 13, 2002. Read the original PDF.