California Central Coast Regional Coastal Zone Conservation Commission v. McKeon Construction

This is an appeal by plaintiff California Central Coast Regional Coastal Zone Conservation Commission (hereafter “commission”) from an order denying its application for a preliminary injunction against defendant McKeon Construction (hereafter “McKeon”).

The relevant facts may be summarized as follows: In May 1971, defendant McKeon held an option to purchase 16.4 acres of unimproved real property located in the City of Capitola. McKeon intended to construct 54 separate buildings, containing a total of 216 condominium units, on said property. In early May 1971, McKeon’s agent contacted Mr. Ray, who was the Capitola City Manager and who was also the secretary of the Board of Directors of the Capitola Sanitation District. McKeon’s agent discussed with Mr. Ray McKeon’s plans for the development of the property and received Ray’s assurances that such use of the property was permissible. Ray also stated that sanitation facilities were available in the area and were adequate to serve the density permitted by the existing zoning. Ray requested that McKeon file an application for planned unit development (p.d.) zoning in order to give the City of Capitola more control over the…