Billings

The California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission and Central Coast Regional Commission (Commission) appeal from a judgment in two proceedings granting the petition of Billings et al. (owners) for a peremptory writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5). As to one proceeding, the court concluded that the owners had a vested right to exemption from the permit requirements of the California Coastal Act of 1976 (1976 Coastal Act); as to the other, the court concluded that the Commission’s action in denying the owners a permit for their minor subdivision was not supported by law, and directed issuance of the permit. For the reasons set forth below, we have concluded that the owners were not exempt but are entitled to a permit.

We turn first to the exemption proceeding. The pertinent facts, as found by the trial court, are as follows: In 1976, petitioners Billings acquired 118 acres of land in San Mateo County. The property is not adjacent to the beach or to the ocean, but is located on Stage Road, two or three miles inland from the coast, about one mile north of Pescadero and four miles south of San Gregorio. The property is rolling hill land with a rural character.

In…