Edelman to Seek End to Malibu Stalemate : Supervisors: He will propose letting cityhood proceed when a new board member is seated. County’s plans to build sewers have stalled incorporation.

Supervisor Ed Edelman, declaring that it was “time to get Malibu off the ground and running,” said Monday he will ask the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to clear the way for the seaside community to become a city on March 28.

“It’s been too long,” Edelman said of the eight-month delay of incorporation. “The county’s (delaying tactics) have been unconscionable.”

Edelman said he plans to offer a motion on Malibu’s behalf when the supervisors meet March 12, the first session after a new supervisor takes office to replace the retiring Pete Schabarum, a cityhood foe.

“I think I can count and I’m confident that at that time there will be a three-vote majority in favor of bringing this matter to its conclusion,” Edelman said.

Although Malibu voters overwhelmingly approved cityhood last June, the supervisors, by a 4-1 vote, delayed incorporation until March 28 in a bid to start work on a controversial sewer system the county wants to build in the coastal community. Edelman cast the dissenting vote. County officials recently hinted that they may try to delay cityhood even further, perhaps until 1992, if their efforts to build the sewer continue to be stymied.

By ending the cityhood standoff, Edelman’s proposal, if approved, would appear to clear the way for Malibu’s leaders to have an important say in the county’s plans to build its proposed $43-million sewer system.

Malibu’s leaders were jubilant at the news of Edelman’s announcement.

“For a lot of people who’ve fought long and hard for cityhood, we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel,” Councilman-elect Mike Caggiano said.

Mayor-elect Walt Keller called the development “terrific news,” but said Malibu’s leaders will not end their push in the Legislature to nullify the county’s delay of cityhood. “Given our history of disappointments with the county, we can’t afford to be overconfident,” he said. As a result of a court decision in December upholding the redrawing of district boundaries, Edelman now represents Malibu, instead of Supervisor Deane Dana. However, the supervisors are continuing to exercise joint interest in areas where the old boundaries overlap until March, when the new supervisor to replace Schabarum takes office.

Supervisor Kenneth Hahn has said he will accede to Edelman’s wishes and support immediate cityhood. Both Los Angeles City Councilwoman Gloria Molina, and state Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles), the candidates in the Feb. 19 runoff election, have voiced similar support.

Edelman’s action follows a vote last Saturday by Malibu’s unofficial City Council to sponsor a study by an independent consultant to consider alternatives to the county’s sewer plans. The unanimous vote was the first time Malibu’s leaders have indicated officially that they may be willing to accept a more modest sewer system than that envisioned by county officials.

“I think we offered them (county officials) an olive branch of sorts,” Councilwoman-elect Missy Zeitsoff said. “We’ve said we want cityhood now, and we’re going to take Malibu’s wastewater needs seriously. Perhaps that will make a difference.”

County officials have long said that a sewer system is needed in Malibu, citing pollution caused by leaking septic tanks. Opponents of the sewer, including many cityhood supporters, contend that the county’s plans would serve as a prelude to widespread development of the Malibu coast.

Although the California Coastal Commission approved the sewer plan in principle in 1989 and authorized the county to set up a sewer tax assessment district to pay for it, it has yet to allow construction to begin.

Last month, the coastal panel indicated it probably would not approve the sewer plan until county officials resolved their differences with Malibu’s future leaders. The state panel is scheduled to consider the matter in April.

Edelman expressed pleasure with the move by Malibu’s leaders to explore possible alternatives to the county’s plans, but said the action was not critical in his decision to push for an end to the cityhood standoff.

“To be frank about it, I would have done it anyway,” he said. “Anytime a community exercises its democratic right to make a decision of that sort, it’s unconscionable to attempt to stand in the way.”