For decades, John and Marcella Seidensticker have lived in a small condo on the California coast. In 2023, the couple decided it was time to update their aging home with a larger and safer modern build. They applied for permits to demolish and rebuild, which the City of Dana Point granted without objection. But the Seidenstickers’ plans were abruptly shut down when their project was appealed to the California Coastal Commission on February 7, 2023.
The Coastal Commission—the unelected agency that, along with local governments, regulates land and water use along the California coast—is infamous for abusing its limited authority. It often does so by imposing significant fines or unconstitutional conditions on permits that a local government already granted. That’s exactly what the Seidenstickers faced when the agency intervened and halted their City-approved plans.
The Coastal Commission left the Seidenstickers in limbo for over three years. When it finally held a hearing in March 2026, it imposed 15 unconstitutional “special conditions” on the couple’s permit.
In order to rebuild their own home, the Coastal Commission demanded that the Seidenstickers waive any future right to protect their home against storms, erosion, or other potential damage. It demanded that they privately fund a government survey of the beach’s mean high-tide line every five years, in perpetuity. And, most absurdly, it demanded that they agree to “promptly” demolish “all or a portion of” their home the moment that the City or “any other government agency” told them to—a demand that would strip them of their right to challenge unjust government demands in court. To add insult to injury, this supposed “approval” doesn’t actually allow the Seidenstickers to move forward—instead, the Commission is requiring the Seidenstickers to submit entirely new plans for its consideration.
California law and the U.S. Constitution guarantee fair process. The Commission can’t ignore that guarantee by granting only permit “approvals” that require homeowners to completely rewrite and resubmit new development plans to comply with the agency’s whims.
By holding their permits hostage behind unconstitutional demands, the Coastal Commission is trying to coerce the Seidenstickers into forfeiting their rights—including their rights to file lawsuits challenging government abuses of power and their rights to use and protect their own property against future damage. But constitutional rights are guaranteed, not conditional. That means the government can never order you to waive some rights to exercise others.
The Seidenstickers just want to rebuild their aging home. Represented at no cost by Pacific Legal Foundation, they’re heading to federal court to defend their rights with a lawsuit that challenges the Coastal Commission’s unconstitutional permitting conditions and stands up for all California homeowners.
What’s At Stake?
- Your constitutional rights are guaranteed, not conditional. That means the government can never order you to waive some rights to exercise others.
