Free Republic

SAN DIEGO — Former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his wife, Anne, can move forward with plans to remodel and expand their beachfront La Jolla home, the California Coastal Commission ruled Friday. By a 7-4 vote, the panel rejected an appeal by Anthony A. Ciani, an architect and former La Jolla resident, who had argued, among other things, that the expansion would be illegal and exceed the size allowed on the 0.41-acre beachfront lot. Coastal Commission staff had said in their report to the panel that Ciani’s claim was in error. They had recommended the appeal be denied. The...

<p>The U.S. Navy and the California Coastal Commission might be heading for another conflict over offshore military training and potential harm to marine mammals – including the giants of the sea, blue whales.</p> <p>At a meeting Friday in San Diego, the commission will consider whether to request additional protections for marine mammals from the Navy, which can cause potential harm or disturbance with training activities that include the use of sonar and underwater explosives.</p>

The handful of Republican lawmakers most likely to provide crucial votes for Gov. Jerry Brown's budget plan are threatening to withhold their support without a dramatic rewriting of state environmental law. The demand, pushed in private talks with the governor, would curtail lawsuits against projects threatening ecological damage, grant waivers to big telecommunications companies and exempt many urban developments from environmental review. The legislators have declined to share the details of their proposal publicly, but draft legislation to overhaul the law was obtained by The Times. Sweeping changes in the California Environmental Quality Act would stand little chance of approval...

The ocean off the Palos Verdes Peninsula has become one of the key battlegrounds in the long-running effort to implement a state law designed to create a network of habitats off the California coast to protect depleted fish populations. The contentious debate over the size of the marine habitat in the waters around Rocky Point is emblematic of the disputes and hard-fought battles that have been waged since the Marine Life Protection Act was adopted in 1999. The waters off the promontory are abundant with marine life and have long been favored by sport and commercial fishing crews. But the...

In a striking change of direction, the California Coastal Commission Wednesday voted 8-4 to give San Diego its third exemption from pollution standards set by the federal Clean Water Act. Just two months ago, commissioners overwhelmingly to deny the five-year waiver from “secondary” treatment levels at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant. The facility processes sewage from more than 2.2 million people in and outside of the city's limits. The commission's reversal saves San Diego from having to retrofit the facility at a price tag of up to $1.5 billion. The last major step is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,...

Background: The Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant doesn't meet federal standards for the partly cleaned sewage that it discharges about 4.5 miles offshore. It received its first waiver in 1995 after a process that started in 1979, then obtained a second exemption in 2002. What's new: The California Coastal Commission yesterday denied San Diego's request for a third exemption, which would have allowed it to delay upgrades that could cost $1.5 billion. The future: San Diego could appeal the commission's decision to the U.S. secretary of commerce. In a dramatic and startling defeat for San Diego, the California Coastal Commission...

To go after violators of the state’s coastal protection laws, the California Coastal Commission first must go through the courts to levy penalties. But a new proposal would allow the commission to directly order civil penalties of $5,000 to $50,000 without court intervention – a move that is drawing attention in the Capitol. “This is a case of enforcement. There is a very difficult problem in enforcing coastal regulations,” said Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City. “The public voted to create a commission to protect the coast, and the people of California see the coast as a critical part of the...

A Documentary Critical of the California Coastal Commission Under Attack June 17, 2009 - A filmmaker who is producing Sins of Commission, a movie critical of the California Coastal Commission’s infringement on private property rights, was served a subpoena by the commission to acquire raw footage of the film before its final release! Claiming that this intimidation is an attack on his 1st Amendment Rights, the filmmaker is going public. This legal tactic comes as no surprise to property owners who have dealt with a commission who has denied them the ability to make even the most modest improvements to...

Two of Northern California’s top bankruptcy attorneys will visit Half Moon Bay Tuesday to explain to the City Council how it could go about filling Chapter 9 bankruptcy, said Mayor John Muller. The council is exploring ways to pay an $18 million settlement over a land dispute. It is pursuing state legislation for a loan, but if it cannot raise the cash soon it will be forced to pay developer Charles “Chop” Keenan the full amount before the end of the year. The settlement threatens to bankrupt the city. State Sen. Leland Yee, D-San Francisco/San Mateo, and Assemblyman Jerry Hill,...

The welcome final approval by the San Diego regional water board may not be the last hurdle that the proposed Carlsbad desalination plant must clear. Peter Douglas, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, wants one last stab at killing the project. It is not enough for the commissioners to restrain Douglas. They must replace him with an executive director who abides by the limits of his authority and honors the commissioners' decisions instead of undermining them. Poseidon's desalination plant, essential to San Diego's water future, is hardly the first project Douglas has assailed. It is, however, a prime example...

As the state sharpens its budget knife, an agency directly under the blade is the California Coastal Commission, the guardian of 1,100 miles of coast line and an entity that has enflamed passions like few other government offices in California. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier proposed a 10 percent budget cut in the bureaucracy. The coastal commission has sent layoff notices to 46 staff members -- notices that are required by law -- and is preparing for the possibility of cuts, although when and just how deep are not clear. A staff-prepared analysis of the agency's finances said there was a...

The California Coastal Commission dealt another, if not fatal, blow Thursday to the Australian mining firm BHP Billiton's proposed $800 million floating natural gas terminal offshore of Ventura County. The unanimous rejection of the plan, at a meeting in Santa Barbara, came just three days after the State Lands Commission nixed a lease for the company to run its pipelines from the offshore site 13.8 miles to the coast at Oxnard. The company had tried to postpone the meeting, with officials saying they needed time to digest the State Lands Commission's 2-1 vote, but the Coastal Commission went forward with...

A state appeals court has ruled that a landowner can build his dream home on an oceanfront cliff along the Central Coast despite attempts to block the construction because it would be an eyesore for boaters and surfers. The California Coastal Commission sued Dennis Schneider, trying to stop construction of his 10,000 square foot mansion in San Luis Obispo County. In a unanimous opinion Wednesday, the 2nd District Court of Appeal said there were no grounds to restrict seaside development. "We believe that it is unreasonable to assume that the Legislature has ever sought to protect the occasional boater's views...

SACRAMENTO The Coastal Commission has told an appointee of Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez that she should not show up to vote on a high profile Pebble Beach golf development because her appointment was made in violation of state law. The commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, said Monday that Elizabeth Brem's appointment as an alternate was not sanctioned by the commissioner she would represent. She agreed to skip the meeting, Douglas added. Nunez last week named four people to serve as commission alternates just days before the panel was set to vote on the Pebble Beach development, which is backed by...

Despite an outward appearance of business as usual, significant changes have been occurring at the California Coastal Commission, the potent and autonomous agency that oversees development along the state's 1,100-mile coast. In the past 18 months, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature have made seven appointments to the 12-member commission. These new appointees, including Chula Vista Mayor Steve Padilla, have quickly emerged as pragmatic and independent voices. They have arrived while the agency has progressively toughened enforcement against scofflaws and ratcheted up protection of coastal resources. The end result is that coastline developers have never faced more scrutiny. "(The agency)...

A state Supreme Court ruling upholding the legality of the California Coastal Commission in June has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sacramento attorney Ronald A. Zumbrun filed the appeal yesterday on behalf of the Marine Forests Society, a nonprofit group dedicated to creating and restoring marine habitats. "Our contention is that the California Supreme Court, by acting in an abrupt and arbitrary manner, denied my client due process and the right to just compensation for its property interests," Zumbrun said. Marine Forests Society challenged the commission's legality in 1999 after the agency forced it to remove an artificial...

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles International Airport will spend $200,000 to uproot and replant dozens of palms trees that it illegally planted around the airfield five years ago. "We are delighted that they're following through, to right the wrong that was done," said Travis Longcore, science director of The Urban Wildlands Group, which first challenged the project. "We're very happy that it's moving forward." LAX officials expected the 92 Mexican fan palms would spruce up a grungy stretch of land just outside the airfield's chain-link fence. But some nearby residents complained that the tall palms blocked ocean views. The Urban...

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge blocked plans to extend leases for oil and gas drilling off the Central California coast Friday, ruling that the Bush administration didn't adequately consider possible damage to the ocean and marine life. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken ruled that the U.S. Interior Department failed to analyze the environmental impact of future oil exploration and production that would be possible under the 37 offshore leases, according to Drew Caputo, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, one of several groups that sued to block the leases. The ruling from the bench in Oakland's federal...

More than a score of appeals to Pebble Beach Co.'s proposed massive makeover of Del Monte Forest have been filed with the California Coastal Commission. The plan calls for new projects at 13 locations in the forest, including an 18-hole golf course, a golf driving range, 160 new visitor suites, a new equestrian center in the Sawmill Gulch area next to Holman Highway, 33 residential lots in five subdivisions and 60 employee housing units. The company will set aside 492 acres of permanent forest and open space, relocate existing trails and construct new ones, and make improvements in roads and...

A Laguna Beach councilwoman once hailed as an environmental crusader was not reappointed to the California Coastal Commission this week after heavy lobbying by conservation groups that wanted a stronger advocate on the panel, officials said Thursday. Toni Iseman was a much-lauded appointment in 2003 when she was named to the state agency that oversees development on the 1,100-mile coast. But her support among environmentalists faded rapidly after several controversial votes. Iseman's critics pointed to her support for development at the Dana Point Headlands and Bolsa Chica wetlands as particularly disappointing. She defended her record, saying that what she considered...