Changing the Coastal Rules

The California Coastal Commission was created in 1972 to preserve the coastline as “a natural resource belonging to all the people,” and it has endeavored in the years since to make good on that statement of principle. When property owners have sought to build on their beachfront property, the commission has typically imposed requirements like public access to the beach before approving the building plans. By so doing, it has properly prevented the state’s beaches from being made the province of the wealthy. All people should be able to use and enjoy this great resource.

But James and Marilyn Nollan, a Ventura County couple, objected to the access requirement that the Coastal Commission imposed in exchange for approving their plans to build a home on their property. They took their case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled, 5 to 4, on Friday that the commission had indeed gone too far.

In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court said that a requirement imposed on a property owner must be directly related to a public burden created by the property owner’s building plans. A requirement cannot be imposed, the court said, just because the Coastal Commission thinks that it would be a good idea for the public to have access to the beach.

If interpreted broadly, the court’s opinion could strike at a growing trend among state and local governments to demand “exactions” from developers for all sorts of public benefits in exchange or granting building permits. But the justices, who clearly had a hard time with this case, seemed not to want to say that. Rather, their opinion is narrowly drawn, and the Coastal Commission said at week’s end that it could probably still achieve its objectives.

The court also said that the state was free to pay owners for easements across their property, but there is probably not enough money in the state treasury to buy up the beach along the entire coast. Public access to the beach remains an enormous and worthwhile public good, and the state should continue its policy of seeking to ensure it.