Coalition of Concerned Communities, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles

I concur in the result. I write separately to clarify what I believe to be the proper holding and rationale.

I agree with the majority that neither the language of the statute nor its legislative history can resolve the question before us, although the use of the *741 broad term “housing development” at least permits the possibility the Legislature was concerned with something beyond housing units in the strict sense. I also agree with the majority that the key to this case is to divine the legislative purpose of Government Code section 65590, subdivision (d) (hereafter section 65590(d)).

I believe the purpose of section 65590(d) was expressed in the Coastal Commission’s Interpretive Guidelines to former Public Resources Code section 30213, which had mandated the Coastal Commission to protect and provide for “housing opportunities for persons of low and moderate income.” (Stats. 1976, ch. 1330, § 1, p. 5958.) The Interpretive Guidelines state that section 30213 “is a recognition that meaningful access to the coast requires housing opportunities as well as other forms of coastal access.” (Cal. Coastal Com., Interpretive Guidelines on New Construction of Housing (1981) § II.A, p.…

Government Code section 65590, subdivision (d) (section 65590(d)), part of the Mello Act, provides that “[n]ew housing developments constructed within the coastal zone” shall provide housing for those with low or moderate income where feasible. We must decide whether this provision applies to a proposed project that is partly within the coastal zone but has no housing impacts within that zone. Because the purpose of the Mello Act is to provide for affordable housing based on housing impacts within the coastal zone, we conclude that section 65590(d) does not govern this project.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Real party in interest Catellus Residential Group (Catellus) proposes to develop approximately 45 acres of land near the Pacific Ocean in the Westchester-Playa del Rey area of Los Angeles. About 12 acres of the property is located within the California coastal zone. (See Pub. Resources Code, § 30103.)

Defendant City of Los Angeles (city) originally approved an earlier version of the proposed project. It concluded that the Mello Act’s affordable housing requirement did not apply because none of the proposed houses would be constructed within the coastal zone.…