Transfering Title in a Parking Lot from Public to Private Hands a "Development" Requiring a CDP?

February 04, 2009 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

So says the Coastal Commission.  And a Los Angeles Superior Court judge agrees. 

The Commission has power only over "development" in the coastal zone, which the Coastal Act defines to include a "change in the density or intensity of use of land."  When Electric Pointe, LLC proposed that the City of Los Angeles in essence transfer to it title in a parking lot, the City and Coastal Commission staff said that a coastal development permit was required for the transaction. The transfer proposal was declared to be a "development," because the public would no longer be able to park there–thereby changing the intensity of use of the land. 

Electric Pointe, LLC unsuccessfully challenged the CDP requirement in the trial court, and recently has appealed the decision.