Family Gets Reprieve on Eviction

Malibu officials said Monday they have decided to give a local woman and her three children additional time to find a place to move to before forcing her eviction from a tiny, illegally built house on Point Dume.

The owner of the trailer-and-shed structure that Debbie Campbell rents had been ordered to evict her Saturday as part of a city crackdown on guest houses and other structures built without permits.

But landlord Paul Major decided to ignore the edict after others in Malibu--including a Pepperdine University law professor and the president of the Malibu Bar Assn.--rallied to Campbell’s defense after a story in Saturday’s Times detailed her plight.

“Things for me changed in a heartbeat,” Campbell said Monday. “I went from being kicked in the head to people talking about ways to help.”

The ouster deadline had come four days before a newly composed Malibu City Council was expected to consider a moratorium on building code enforcement and less than two weeks before a citizens task force is scheduled to issue recommendations on ordinance changes that could make some “nonconforming” guest houses legal.

The deadline also came during a two-day transition between Malibu city managers who could have rescinded the order. The old one retired Friday and the new one started work Monday.

City code enforcement officer Gail Sumpter said she notified Major by mail Monday that Campbell can stay in the combination trailer-house at the rear of his property for now. She said the city will offer some leeway to property owners as long as they “are working toward compliance” with city laws.

“The extension is to allow her to find a place to live. I’m trying to give her as much time as possible.” But, Sumpter, warned: “It can’t go on forever.”

Pepperdine University law professor Doug Kmiec said he stepped forward after learning that Campbell’s eviction was coming at a pivotal time for city code enforcement in Malibu.

Kmiec, an expert in property law, said he was struck by the timing.

“The last thing I want to see is a member of our community get caught in the switch” from a city administration that “was perhaps overly” rigid to one that is more flexible, he said.

Kmiec put Campbell in contact with Jeanette McGinnis, president of the Malibu Bar Assn. She, in turn, visited Campbell’s tiny home and later spoke with new City Manager Marilyn Leuck, Kmiec said.

McGinnis could not be reached Monday.

Citizens of upscale Malibu are an environmentally sensitive but pragmatic bunch, Kmiec indicated.

“You need a range of incomes and ages and occupations to sustain the community,” Kmiec said. “If you need all those people, you have to ensure that land-use and building codes allow for a range of housing opportunities.”