California Coastal Commission v. Quanta Investment Corp.

The California Coastal Commission (Commission) appeals from an order denying its application for a preliminary injunction to restrain certain stock cooperative conversions from being accomplished in the coastal zone without permits from the Commission. The question to be resolved is whether the conversion of such existing apartment units into a stock cooperative form of ownership constitutes a “development” which falls within the permit jurisdiction of the various Coastal Commissions under the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Pub. Resources Code, § 30000 et seq.).

Procedural History

On April 6, 1979, the Commission filed a compláint seeking to enjoin defendant Quanta Investment Corporation (Quanta) from converting its existing 100-unit apartment building situated in the coastal zone area, into a stock cooperative. The complaint alleged that Quanta had applied to the Department of Real Estate for a public report on the contemplated conversion and that, unless restrained by the court, would *586 proceed with the conversion without first seeking or obtaining a coastal development permit, in violation of the act. 1

On April 19, 1979, the Department of Real Estate informed…

I respectfully dissent. I would affirm the order of the superior court denying the California Coastal Commission (hereinafter Commission) a preliminary injunction.

Section 30106 of the California Coastal Act (hereinafter section 30106) provides: “‘Development’ means, on land, in or under water, the placement or erection of any solid material or structure; discharge or disposal of any dredged material or of any gaseous, liquid, solid, or thermal waste; grading, removing, dredging, mining, or extraction of any materials; change in the density or intensity of use of land, including, but not limited to, subdivision pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (commencing with Section 66410 of the Government Code), and any other division of land, including lot splits, except where the land division is brought about in connection with the purchase of such land by a public agency for public recreational use; change in the intensity of use of water, or of access thereto; construction, reconstruction, demolition, or alteration of the size of any structure, including any facility of any private, public, or municipal utility; and the removal or harvesting of major vegetation other than for…

Fulop, Rolston, Burns & McKittrick, Marvin G. Burns, K. Phillip Knierim, Edmund S. Schaffer, Boren, Elperin, Howard & Sloan, William Elperin, Tamila C. Jensen and Roger H. Howard for Interveners and Respondents.

OPINION

AUERBACH, J. [*]

The California Coastal Commission (Commission) appeals from an order denying its application for a preliminary injunction to restrain certain stock cooperative conversions from being accomplished in the coastal zone without permits from the Commission. The question to be resolved is whether the conversion of such existing apartment units into a stock cooperative form of ownership constitutes a "development" which falls within the permit jurisdiction of the various Coastal Commissions under the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Pub. Resources Code, § 30000 et seq.).

On April 6, 1979, the Commission filed a complaint seeking to enjoin defendant Quanta Investment Corporation (Quanta) from converting its existing 100-unit apartment building situated in the coastal zone area, into a stock cooperative. The complaint alleged that Quanta had applied to the Department of Real Estate for a public report on the contemplated conversion and that, unless…