PLF Asks Appeals Court To Rein in California Coastal Commission Policy That Puts

Contact: Larry Salzman
Phone: (916) 419-7111

San Luis Obispo,CA; September 27, 2005: Pacific Legal Foundation has asked a California Court of Appeal to overturn a decision by a San Luis Obispo judge who ruled that the "rights" of boaters, kayakers, and surfers to view the California coastline free from homes were more important than the property rights of Californians.

California property owner Dennis Schneider is the first person to challenge a new California Coastal Commission policy that prohibits the building or modification of homes along the California coast to "protect views" from the Pacific Ocean.

In 2000, Schneider was granted a permit from local officials to build a single-family home and barn on the 40 acres he owns in San Luis Obispo County. But the California Coastal Commission appealed the county’s decision—to itself—and, not surprisingly, rejected the permit. Instead, the commission ordered Schneider to reduce the size of his home and move it into a ravine—even though geologic experts told the commission the ravine was unsafe due to the threat of erosion.

Mr. Schneider took the commission to court, but in a stunning ruling issued in June, a judge ruled the Coastal Commission’s authority under the Coastal Act extends to "offshore views." Although the judge likened the bureaucratic hassles Mr. Schneider has faced during the permit process to "being nibbled to death by ducks," he nevertheless held: "It is clear to the Court that the beauty of a sunrise from a vantage point offshore is afforded the same protection as a sunset seen from land."

Pacific Legal Foundation, which has acted as a watchdog against the notoriously power-hungry Coastal Commission for three decades, immediately took up Mr. Schneider’s case on appeal.

"The Coastal Commission is demanding that Californians sacrifice their constitutionally protected property rights to the esthetic preferences of random strangers," said Larry Salzman, an attorney with Pacific Legal Foundation who is representing Mr. Schneider.

"This is one of the commission’s most hostile acts against Californians who want to live near the beach," Salzman said. "It’s an unprecedented power grab that would allow the commission to reject any and all new building along the California coast."

"What’s next--banning boating on the Pacific so that beachgoers have a pristine view of the sea?" he said.

About Pacific Legal Foundation
Founded in 1973, Pacific Legal Foundation is the nation’s oldest and largest public interest legal organization dedicated to property rights protection, limited government, and individual rights. PLF has defended the rights of coastal property owners and worked to reform the California Coastal Commission for 30 years. PLF’s landmark United States Supreme Court victory, Nollan v. California Coastal Commission, 483 U.S. 825, 837 (1987), radically reformed the commission when the Supreme Court ruled its permit process was an "out-and-out plan of extortion." PLF’s Coastal Land Rights Project is dedicated exclusively to monitoring the commission and representing coastal landowners.


###To arrange interviews on this issue, journalists and producers may contact PLF's Media Director, Dawn Collier, at (916) 419-7111. Rescuing Liberty from the grasp of Government.