Sierra Club v. California Coastal Com.

Latham & Watkins, Robert D. Crockett, Kathryn M. Davis, James R. Repking, Los Angeles, for real party in interest and respondent Catellus Residential Group.

Certified for Partial Publication. [*] .

GEMELLO, J.

May the California Coastal Commission (Commission) consider the environmental impacts of development outside the coastal zone when approving a project that straddles the coastal zone boundary? We hold that it may not, and that the Commission acted correctly when it confined its analysis of a project to the environmental impacts of the portion lying inside the coastal zone.

At issue in this case is a 114-home housing project proposed to be built on a Los Angeles bluff near the Pacific Ocean. Because a portion of the project lies inside the coastal zone and under the jurisdiction of the Commission, the developer was required to seek a Commission coastal development permit. The Commission rejected an earlier version of the project, but approved the project after the developer made modifications to alleviate many of the Commission's concerns.

The Sierra Club disagreed with the Commission's decision and sought review by a petition for writ of mandate. The trial court denied…