LT-WR, L.L.C. v. California Coastal Commission

Plaintiff and appellant LT-WR, L.L.C., a Nevada limited liability company (LT-WR), appeals a judgment denying in part its petition for writ of administrative mandate (Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5) and dismissing its complaint. LT-WR’s petition sought to overturn a decision by defendants California Coastal Commission (Commission) and its Executive Director, Peter M. Douglas, denying LT-WR’s application for a coastal development permit (CDP).

The Commission cross-appeals a portion of the trial court’s judgment, insofar as the judgment directs the Commission to vacate its denial of LT-WR’s application for a permit to maintain gates and no trespassing signs on its property.

In the final portion of this opinion relating to the cross-appeal, we conclude the trial court properly overturned the Commission’s denial of a permit for the gates and no trespassing signs. Inherent in one’s ownership of real property is the right to exclude uninvited visitors. In prohibiting LT-WR from excluding the public from its property on the theory that “potential exists to establish prescriptive rights for public use,” the Commission in effect decreed the existence of such rights. We find the…