Casa Mira Homeowners Association v. California Coastal Commission

A homeowners association and its members challenged the California Coastal Commission's "effective denial" of an application for a permit to build a seawall along a coastal bluff in Half Moon Bay. The petitioners contended that the Commission's "nonsensical indict" approved only a portion of the seawall that would protect three apartments that existed prior to the 1977 effective date of the California Coastal Act. The petitioners claims included that the Commission's decision exceeded its authority under and violated the Coastal Act, violated the petitioners' equal protection and due process rights under the U.S. and California Constitutions, and constituted a taking without just compensation. The petitioners alleged that the Commission had never adopted a policy of "managed retreat." To the extent the Commission relied on 2015 Sea Level Rise Policy Guidance that interpreted the term "existing structures" in the Coastal Act to mean structures in existence on January 1, 1977, the petitioners brought an as-applied challenge to the guidance as exceeding the Commission's authority.