Citizens for Planning Responsibly v. County of San Luis Obispo

The State Aeronautics Act (SAA) (Pub. Util. Code, § 21001 et seq.) establishes a comprehensive system “to further and protect the public interest in aeronautics and aeronautical progress” and specifies the means to do so. (§ 21002.) Included in the SAA are declarations of purpose, which encompass the development, expansion and regulation of public airports and adjacent lands to promote public safety, and to minimize exposure to safety hazards and noise. (§ 21670, subd. (a).) These goals are to be achieved, in part, by use of airport land use commissions (§ 21670, subd. (b)), to “formulate an airport land use compatibility plan that will provide for the orderly growth of each public airport and the area surrounding the airport,” to “safeguard the general welfare of the inhabitants within the vicinity of the airport and the public in general.” (§ 21675, subd. (a).) Final authority for proposed action, however, lies with the affected city or county which may, by two-thirds vote of its governing body, overrule the commission. Here, inter alia, we are asked to decide if, by use of initiative, the electorate may act as the “governing body” and act in its place. We hold that it…