Attorney General Appeals Coastal Commission Ruling

Attorney General Bill Lockyer is asking the state Supreme Court to reverse an appellate court´s decision that the Coastal Commission is unconstitutional. If the ruling by the 3rd District Court of Appeal is upheld, Lockyer says it could jeopardize more than 100,000 coastal permits issued in the past 27 years.

Lockyer says the commission would be prohibited from granting or denying coastal development permits and from issuing cease and desist orders to developers who violate coastal protection laws. The commission helps regulate development along California´s eleven-hundred-mile coastline. It was created by voters in 1972. The Legislature appoints eight of the 12 commission members, and can remove them at will, which the court said violated the state constitution.

Lawmakers have been debating two bills that would change the appointments to two- or four-year fixed terms to satisfy the court´s decision.