The California Supreme Court earlier this month agreed to hear a case that will determine the scope of the state Coastal Commission’s authority to unilaterally overturn local agencies’ housing development approvals.
The Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is representing the petitioner Shear Development Co., which is challenging a commission decision vetoing a housing development in the San Luis Obispo County community of Los Osos. The PLF asserts the state agency’s overruling of local governments’ authority in the California coastal zone, where 27 million people live, is an abuse of power.
“For too long, the California Coastal Commission has unilaterally assumed authority well beyond that which was originally granted it by the (California) Coastal Act,” PLF attorney Jeremy Talcott said in a comment emailed to the Southern California Record. “We are confident that the Supreme Court of California will use this opportunity to rein in the commission's excesses and restore the original careful balance of local and state power contained in the act."
The current deadline to submit opening briefs in the case is set for July 12, though the PLF said it was considering an extension to have more time to weigh the extent of the legal record. But even so, the briefing in the case should be complete by the end of 2024, according to the Foundation.
The usurping of local government authority by the commission is one of the key causes of California’s ongoing housing crisis, the PLF said in a news release.
The petition for review that was filed with the Supreme Court in April notes that local government agencies in the coastal region are required to draw up a Local Coastal Program (LCP) for land-use purposes that must be certified with the commission.
“Once an LCP is certified, land-use permitting authority is delegated to the local government and, by statutory design, the commission retains very limited appeal jurisdiction over certain projects,” Shear Development’s petition states. “Nevertheless, the commission notoriously has pushed for ever-expansive appeal jurisdiction, in contravention of its governing statute and LCPs.”
In 2019, Shear Development’s plans for phase II of a housing development containing three homes were approved by San Luis Obispo County. The commission, however, unilaterally appealed the development to itself.
“... The commission appealed that permit decision to itself, disagreeing with the county’s application of its own certified LCP, and eventually denied the coastal development permit,” the petition states. “Shear filed the instant lawsuit to defend its county-approved permit.”
The petition urges the high court to overturn the commission’s permit denial and restrict the state agency to its “proper role” as defined in the Coastal Act. Courts, not agencies, should resolve how the state law should be interpreted, not agencies, the PLF argues.
“The CCC cannot run roughshod over local governments and property owners by ignoring the limitations state law places on its authority to inject itself in local land-use decision-making,” Talcott said.
In response to a query from The Record, the commission’s legislative director said the agency could not offer a response about matters pending before the court. The state’s Second District Court of Appeals sided with the commission concluding that the agency did not abuse its authority in reviewing the developer’s permit.