Articles

Agencies must explain their decisions

September 06, 2018 | By JEFF MCCOY

Today, we filed the latest brief in Mark and Bella Greene’s ongoing litigation against the California Coastal Commission. The Greenes are a retired couple who wish to remodel their house in Playa Del Rey, Los Angeles. Even though the Greenes’ plans were consistent with local and state laws, the Commission told them that they had … ...

Articles

Opposing legislative efforts to undercut homeowner protection

April 17, 2017 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

This afternoon, the Natural Resources Committee of the California Assembly will consider AB 1129 (Stone), the Coastal Commission’s most recent effort to expand its powers at the expense of coastal landowners. The bill would overturn a longstanding understanding of the Coastal Act’s regulation of sea walls and other protective devices. C ...

Articles

Commission Creep : Under rule of dysfunctional coastal agency, every act is illegal "development"

February 12, 2016 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

So this is where the California Coastal Commission experiment ends:  if you put a lock on a gate, paint a billboard, say mean things at a surf break, try to keep trespassers off your coastal land, or move a cow into a new pasture, you are engaging in unpermitted “development” and violating the Coastal Act. Ordinary people … ...

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California appellate court issues disappointing decision in Encinitas seawall case, Lynch v. California Coastal Commission

September 12, 2014 | By JENNIFER THOMPSON

Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys represent two bluff-top homeowners in Encinitas: Tom Frick, and his neighbor, Barbara Lynch. They applied to the California Coastal Commission for a permit to install a new seawall to protect their homes from erosion after a massive storm destroyed the old wall. They also sought to rebuild a stairway connecting th ...

Articles

PLF to argue Coastal Commission appeal concerning property rights

July 09, 2014 | By PAUL BEARD

On Monday, July 14, at 9:00 a.m., I will be in the California Court of Appeal (San Diego) arguing an appeal brought by the California Coastal Commission in Lynch v. California Coastal Commission.  At stake is two Encinitas families’ right to repair a private beach staircase destroyed by storms, and to install (and keep) a state-of-the-art ...

Articles

Property rights under attack in California "Martins Beach" case

May 21, 2014 | By PAUL BEARD

There’s a big legal battle brewing along the San Mateo County coast that PLF is closely monitoring. Two radical, anti-property-rights groups are trying to force owners to open up their private land to the public, so that the public has easier access to a popular beach area known as Martins Beach. Here’s the backstory: … ...

Articles

PLF files response brief in Coastal Commission case

April 18, 2014 | By PAUL BEARD

On Friday, we filed our Respondents Brief in the California Court of Appeal (4th District) in Lynch v. California Coastal Commission. … ...

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Coastal Commission November wrap-up

November 20, 2013 | By JONATHAN WILLIAMS

Last week I attended the California Coastal Commission meeting at the Taj Mahal in Newport Beach. On Wednesday, the meeting attracted a crowd full of union and environmental activists, to discuss Poseidon Water’s application to build a $900 million desalination plant. The proposed facility would produce 50 million gallons of drinking water a ...

Articles

California legislature kills Coastal Commission power grab

September 10, 2013 | By PAUL BEARD

After months of lobbying by the California Coastal Commission and its anti-property-rights allies in the Legislature, this afternoon, the California Assembly voted “no” on AB 976.  The bill would have given that heavy-handed agency the power to levy hefty fines on property owners for alleged violations of the Coastal Act, without hav ...