Trancas Market Signs Sent Back to Drawing Board

Malibu Planning Commissioners sent a strong message to the owners of the Trancas Country Market Monday night in rejecting a sign program.

Commissioners voted against tearing out three sycamore trees on Trancas Canyon Road to make way for angled parking spaces, the master sign program, and asked for a mock up to show the lighting on the tenant signs.

"It’s really hard for me to judge the sign without the lighting of the sign figured out as well," Commissioner Roohi Stack said.

Because the commission voted without prejudice, developers of the center will have a chance to bring it back for another try.

Neighbors railed against the plans for a roof top sign, monument sign and the removal of three sycamore trees during a public hearing.

“If the signage doesn’t fit, you must not permit,” Malibu's Remy O'Neil told commissioners during the hearing.

Pat Healey had friends bring out several sheets of plastic showing the approximate size of the proposed signs.

Hans Laetz, who lives near the shopping center, wrote on Malibu Patch after the hearing that the vote was a victory for neighbors.

"The developers have built a beautiful project," Laetz wrote. "They need to work with us - not in a vacuum - on finishing it off with signs and lights."

Attorney Clare Bronowski, representing the owner, Zuma Beach Properties, LLC, argued during the hearing that the signs were within the city's guidelines and that the roof top sign should be grandfathered in.