Meaningful Remedies Are Possible In Challenges To Coastal Commission Permit Decisions, Holds Court Of Appeal
“Private” property does not mean “public” property, the Fourth District Court of Appeal has told the California Coastal Commission in Bay Island Club v. California Coastal Commission. The case arose from the Commission’s decision to permit the Bay Island Club to rebuild its bridge connecting Balboa Peninsula to Bay Island in Lower Newport Bay in the City of Newport Beach, but only on the condition that the new bridge be opened to around-the-clock public access. The Club lost its challenge to the public access condition in the trial court, but prevailed on appeal. What is more, the Court of Appeal decided not to order the usual remedy of remanding the matter to the Commission to give it another chance to impose the same condition for different reasons, opting instead to simply strike the offending condition from the otherwise valid permit. Briscoe Ivester & Bazel LLP represented the Club before the Commission and the trial and appellate courts.
