Hubbard v. Coastal Comm'n

250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397, 38 Cal. App. 5th 119
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJuly 31, 2019
DocketB249835
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397 (Hubbard v. Coastal Comm'n) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hubbard v. Coastal Comm'n, 250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397, 38 Cal. App. 5th 119 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

WILLHITE, Acting P. J.

*123Under the California Coastal Act ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30000, et seq. ), anyone wishing to build a development in the coastal zone must obtain a coastal development permit (CDP) from the California Coastal Commission (Commission) or, if a local coastal program (LCP) has been certified by the Commission, from the applicable local government agency. ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30600, subds. (a) - (d).) This case involves the interpretation of a regulation, Title 14, California Code of Regulations, section 13105, subdivision (a),1 which provides the grounds on which the Commission may revoke a CDP based on inaccurate, erroneous or incomplete information in the CDP application. Section 13105, subdivision (a) provides: "Grounds for revocation of a permit shall be: [¶] (a) Intentional inclusion of inaccurate, erroneous or incomplete information in connection with a coastal development permit application, where the commission finds that accurate and complete information would *124have caused the commission to require additional or different conditions on a permit or deny an application."

Here, there was no certified LCP in place. The Commission granted a CDP to Real Party in Interest Malibu Valley Farms (MVF) to rebuild its equestrian facility following a fire. Appellants Mary Hubbard and Save Open Space Santa Monica Mountains (appellants) petitioned the Commission to revoke the CDP, alleging that MVF's CDP application contained intentional misrepresentations regarding approvals it received from the Los Angeles County Environmental Review Board (ERB), the California Water Resources Control Board (Water Board), and the California Department of Fish and Game (Fish and Game).2

Relying on section 13105, subdivision (a), the Commission denied the petition, finding that although the CDP application contained intentional misrepresentations concerning the ERB, Water Board, and Fish and Game approvals, correction of those misrepresentations by accurate and complete information would not have caused the Commission to add new or different conditions or to deny the CDP.

Appellants petitioned the superior court for a writ of administrative mandate ( Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5 ) to set aside the Commission's decision. The superior court denied the petition, and it is from that ruling that appellants appeal. Appellants contend that the Commission erred in interpreting and applying section 13105, subdivision (a), in that: (1) the plain meaning of section 13105, and the interplay between the language of sections 13052 and 13105, require *401a CDP application to have complete and accurate information regarding state and local agency approvals of the proposed project; (2) the legislative intent behind sections 13052 and 13105 indicates that a CDP applicant cannot benefit from its failure to comply with the state and local agency approval procedural requirements; and (3) revoking a CDP only if the inaccuracies regarding local and state agency approvals are material leads to the absurd result that an application cannot be disturbed once it is deemed complete.

We reject appellant's challenges to the Commission's interpretation and application of section 13105, subdivision (a). Therefore, because substantial evidence supports the Commission's determination that accurate or complete information would not have caused the Commission to act differently in ruling on MVF's CDP application ( § 13105, subd. (a) ), we affirm the judgment of the superior court denying administrative mandate.

*125FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

I. Malibu Valley Farms (MVF )

MVF owns and operates an equestrian facility in the Santa Monica Mountains near the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Stokes Canyon Road. In 1996, the facility was damaged in a fire. MVF sought to rebuild it, performing some of the work before obtaining a CDP, setting in motion the proceedings before the Commission that are at issue here.

MVF's facility and proposed development are in the coastal zone. For areas within a coastal zone, the Coastal Act requires local governments to develop LCPs, consisting of a land use plan (LUP) and implementing ordinances. ( Pub. Resources Code, §§ 30108.5, 30500, subd. (a) ; McAllister v. California Coastal Com. (2008) 169 Cal.App.4th 912, 922-923, 87 Cal.Rptr.3d 365.) If a local government's LCP (including the LUP) has been certified by Commission, the local agency is the permitting agency for a CDP. ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30600, subd. (d).) If the LCP has not been certified, the Commission is the permitting agency. ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30600, subds. (a), (b) and (d).)

In this case, the applicable LUP is the Malibu-Santa Monica Mountains LUP (Malibu LUP), formulated by Los Angeles County. Under the Malibu LUP, MVF's proposed development lies within an area-the riparian canopy of Stokes Canyon Creek-designated as an inland Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA) protected by the Coastal Act. ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30240, subd. (a).)3 However, at the time of these proceedings, the Commission had not certified the Malibu LCP (it was not certified until October 2014). Thus, only the Commission had authority to issue a CDP to MVF. ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30600, subds. (b), (c), (d) ; Healing v. California Coastal Com. (1994) 22 Cal.App.4th 1158, 1163, 27 Cal.Rptr.2d 758.)

II. MVF's CDP Application

After unsuccessful proceedings before the Commission regarding a request for an exemption from the Coastal Act and an earlier CDP application not here relevant, *402in December 2006 MVF submitted the CDP application at issue in this case, seeking after-the-fact approval of construction already performed at the site. The construction aspect of MVF's CDP application called for *126considerable new building. There was to be an approximately six-acre equestrian facility, composed of two riding arenas, fencing, a dirt access road with at-grade crossing of Stokes Canyon Creek, corrals, paddock, tack rooms, and barns. The project also included the removal of 32 pipe corrals, several covered corrals, storage containers, and tack rooms.

When considering whether to issue a CDP, the Commission is guided by the Coastal Act's "Chapter 3" policies, which are designed in large part to protect the ecological balance along California's coastline by assuring environmentally sensitive development. ( Pub. Resources Code, § 30200, subd. (a) ["the policies of this chapter shall constitute the standards by which ...

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
250 Cal. Rptr. 3d 397, 38 Cal. App. 5th 119, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hubbard-v-coastal-commn-calctapp5d-2019.