San Mateo County Harbor District v. People ex rel. San Francisco Bay Conservation & Development Commission

Defendant and appellant San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC) appeals a judgment enjoining it from initiating enforcement proceedings based on its contention that plaintiff and respondent San Mateo County Harbor District’s (the District) policy concerning live-aboard vessels violates the McAteer-Petris Act (the Act) (Gov. Code, § 66600 et seq.; unless otherwise indicated, all further statutory references are to the Government Code), which created and defined BCDC’s power and jurisdiction. BCDC’s principal contention is that it has sole regulatory control over the berthing of such vessels in a harbor within San Francisco Bay.

Facts

The parties stipulated to the following facts:

In 1977 the City of South San Francisco (the City) owned a small boat marina at Oyster Point, which lies both within the City’s limits and the *1791 District’s territory. In October 1977 the City and the District jointly agreed to repair and/or replace the existing Oyster Point marina facilities and expand them pursuant to a 1975 proposed master plan agreement between the City and the State of California Department of Navigation and Ocean Development. The 1975 proposed…