Sierra Club v. California Coastal Commission

Good Law

12 Cal. App. 4th 602·15 Cal. Rptr. 2d 779·1993 Cal. App. LEXIS 33·93 Daily Journal DAR 783·93 Cal. Daily Op. Serv. 370

Court of Appeal of CaliforniaJanuary 15, 1993A053941California6,958 words

Opinion

Smith, J.

The Sierra Club petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) against a decision of the California Coastal Commission (Commission) approving and certifying a land-use plan (LUP) of real party in interest, the County of Mendocino (County), as consistent with the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Coastal Act or Act) (Pub. Resources Code, § 30000 et seq.). The Commission and County appeal from the court’s issuance of a peremptory writ commanding the Commission to set aside its approval for failure to confer environmentally sensitive habitat area (ESHA) status (§§ 30107.5, 30240) on pygmy forest areas. We affirm.

Background

The Coastal Act requires a coastal county to have a local coastal program (LCP), including an LUP, which meets the requirements of, and implements the provisions and policies of, the Coastal Act at the local level. (§§ 30108.6, 30100.5.)

A county may ask the Commission to prepare all or part of an LCP (§ 30500, subd. (a)), and that happened here. The County in 1978 asked the Commission to draft a coastal LUP (the coastal element of its general plan), and the Commission, after public hearings and input from staff and…

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