RECENT FEDERAL DECISIONS

March 2008

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First District Rules Coastal Commission Lacks Authority to Declare Property Environmentally Sensitive Habitat on Appeal from Grant ofCoastal Development Permit
Security National Guaranty, Inc. v. California Coastal Commission, ___Cal.App.4th___

The California Court of Appeal, First District, recently ruled that the California Coastal Commission (Coastal Commission) went beyond its authority in declaring the property at issue an “environmentally sensitive habitat area” (ESHA). The primary issue before the appellate court was whether the California Coastal Act (CCA) empowers the Coastal Commission to declare property an ESHA during an administrative appeal from a local government’s grant of a coastal development permit. The court concluded that it does not.