Hubbard v. Coastal Comm'n

38 Cal.App.5th 119

250 Cal.Rptr.3d 397

Mary HUBBARD et al., Plaintiffs and Appellants,

v.COASTAL COMMISSION, Defendant and Respondent.

B249835

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 4, California.

Filed July 31, 2019

Law Offices of Steven C. Gambardella and Steven C. Gambardella, Calabasas; and Mary A. Hubbard, in pro. per., for appellants Mary Hubbard and Save Open Space/Santa Monica Mountains.

Xavier Becerra, Attorney General, John A. Saureman, Assistant Attorney General, Christina Bull Arndt and Andrew M. Vogel, Deputy Attorneys General, for Respondent California Coastal Commission.

WILLHITE, Acting P. J.

Under 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 have 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 a 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.

FACTUAL 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, in 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 considerable 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 ... the permissibility of proposed developments subject to the provisions of this division are determined"]; Douda v. California Coastal Com. (2008) 159 Cal.App.4th 1181, 1191, 72 Cal.Rptr.3d 98.)⁴ The Commission may accept a CDP application for filing only "after reviewing it and finding it complete." (§ 13056, subd. (a).) Under section 13052, "[w]hen development for which a permit is required pursuant to Public Resources Code, Section 30600 or 30601 also requires a permit from one or more cities or counties or other state or local governmental agencies, a permit application shall not be accepted for filing by the Executive Director unless all such governmental agencies have granted at a minimum their preliminary approvals for said development," with exceptions not here relevant. ( § 13052 ; see Kalnel Gardens, LLC v. City of Los Angeles (2016) 3 Cal.App.5th 927, 940, 208 Cal.Rptr.3d 114 [a CDP is in addition to, and separate from, the required permits issued by local agencies for any development].)

In the instant case, under the Malibu LUP, development in an ESHA was subject to review by the ERB. Such developments were to be sited and designed to prevent impacts which would significantly degrade such areas, and be compatible with the continuance of the habitat. (Malibu LUP, Policy 69.)

Besides approval by the ERB, the proposed project was subject to approval by various other local and state agencies. The only approvals submitted in the CDP application relevant to this appeal were those by the ERB, Fish and Game, and the Water Board.

The ERB approval, dated January 27, 2003, did not pertain to the development for which MVF sought the CDP. Rather, it pertained to MVF's earlier unsuccessful 2003 "vested rights application," which sought a declaration that the structures to be repaired were exempt as having been in place prior to the effective date of the Coastal Act. Further, ERB's approval described MVF's request to "[r]etain facilities on an existing equestrian operation: relocate portable tack shelter; remove storage shelter, portable storage trailer," as well as removing pipe corrals. It did not refer to the full range of construction for which MVF sought a CDP. ERB found this project "consistent after modifications," and recommended that public works address the hydrological issues on the site and correct problems contributing to erosion and undercutting of structures, and adapt the lighting at the property so that it was of low intensity and shielded.

The Fish and Game approval, dated March 15, 2005 was granted by operation of law. By letter, Fish and Game notified MVF that it did not need a lake or streambed alteration agreement from Fish and Game because the department had failed to act on MVF's application within the 60 days as required by Fish and Game Code section 1602, subdivision (a)(4)(D). As a result, "from the date of this letter, by law you may go forward with your project...