Grant

Petition for writ of mandate to require respondent court to vacate its order denying a petition to require the Coastal Commission to issue an exemption from the California Coastal Act of 1976, and enter a new and different order granting said petition. We granted an alternative writ.

Facts

This petition involves an apparent conflict between Public Resources Code sections 30801 and 30625, and the question whether petitioners failed to exhaust their administrative remedies under the Coastal Act of 1976.

Petitioners applied to the South Coast Regional Commission for an exemption from the coastal development permit requirements of the Coastal Act of 1976. They are the developers of a three-story apartment building consisting of 49 units with on-site parking and recreational facilities. In their claim of exemption form they mention that they propose to convert the project to condominiums, that is, to subdivide. After a hearing, the regional commission found that petitioners had a vested right in the development as an apartment, but had acquired no such right as to the proposal to convert the project to condominiums.

Petitioners did not appeal the decision of the regional…