It's Malibu versus the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, a fight that's been festering for years. Ever since Barbra Streisand donated her 22-acre estate at the end of Ramirez Canyon to the Conservancy a decade or so ago, it's been nothing but trouble. The place is huge - five houses, lawns and gardens, a swimming pool, terraced orchards, miles of rock walls and stream beds and pathways. And though the SMMC offers pricey tours, leases the grounds for parties, uses the homes as office space and let some of the lush gardens die off to save on the water bill, it's a money pit. (Full disclosure - my husband, David Kipen, and I were married there, the first wedding held on the property.)

The Conservancy has tried to expand its Ramirez Canyon retail activities and the Malibu City Council has repeatedly said no. Now a SMMC plan to enhance three Malibu park properties - Ramirez, Corral Canyon and Escondido - has brought things to a head. The Conservancy wants the Coastal Commission to rule on the plan. The Malibu City Council says the SMMC is making an illegal end-run around city regulations. Homeowners living near the parks say it's all a thinly-veiled land-grab and want the Conservancy to back off. Everybody's threatening to sue somebody.

Lots of he-said-she-said details in this story in this week's Malibu Times.