{"id":56258,"date":"2025-11-17T00:44:13","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T00:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/56258\/"},"modified":"2025-11-17T00:44:13","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T00:44:13","slug":"commission-changes-signal-pro-development-shift-at-coastlines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/56258\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission changes signal pro-development shift at coastlines?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Trees<\/a>Trees along the coastline in Encinitas. (File photo courtesy of the city of Encinitas)<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on CalMatters<\/a>. Sign up<\/a>\u00a0for their newsletters.<\/p>\n

Bone-colored bluffs and jagged cliffs line the Monterey shoreline where chalky sand meets redwoods.<\/p>\n

Its rugged coastline, including beloved destinations such as Big Sur, is well-known California iconography protected by the California Coastal Act<\/a> for nearly 50 years.<\/p>\n

In a push to address the state\u2019s gripping housing crisis, the California Coastal Commission last week approved a rule change to make it easier to build affordable housing in Monterey and elsewhere along the hundreds of miles of the Pacific coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It was the latest effort by the powerful state agency to combat its poor reputation among housing advocates and Democratic leaders who see it as an obstacle to drastic housing reform in California\u2019s coveted coastal regions. While minor and uncontroversial, the amendment was one of a few shifts the commission has made in recent months in an effort to be viewed as playing a part in addressing the state\u2019s crippling housing crisis.<\/p>\n

It released a report for the first time in 2024 that showed local governments were responsible for approving the vast majority of permits in coastal regions, and this year the agency worked with housing activists to make it easier to build student housing in coastal cities. Nor did the coastal commission oppose a landmark housing reform law<\/a> that excludes most new developments from environmental review.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s going to have a real-life change,\u201d Susan Jordan, a longtime conservation activist and founder of the California Coastal Protection Network, said of the regulatory amendment at the meeting.<\/p>\n

Reputation rehab: Steps toward more housing<\/p>\n

Twelve people \u2014 six local elected officials and six members of the public \u2014 vote on the independent, quasi-judicial state agency tasked with conserving more than 800 miles of the California coast and keeping it open to the public. Its authority spans about 1,000 yards inland from where the land meets the water at high tide.<\/p>\n

The commission has faced relentless scrutiny in recent years for not permitting enough affordable housing in coastal cities, or doing so too slowly, as state lawmakers have stripped numerous housing regulations<\/a> to make it easier to build more apartments.<\/p>\n

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a critic of the commission, and other top Democrats have appointed three pro-development local officials this year to help get more housing and other developments approved along the Pacific coast.<\/p>\n

In October, Newsom appointed wealthy real estate developer Jaime Lee to replace Effie Turnbull Sanders. An attorney appointed by former Gov. Jerry Brown, Sanders was lauded by environmentalists for heralding environmental justice policies<\/a> to the agency.<\/p>\n

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas<\/a>, a Salinas Democrat, named two pro-development appointees to the commission in May: Chris Lopez, a Monterey County supervisor, and Chula Vista councilmember Jose Preciado.<\/p>\n

Ray Jackson, a Hermosa Beach councilmember, was appointed earlier this year by Democratic Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire<\/a> of Santa Rosa, and is largely a skeptic of big developers.<\/p>\n

In a unanimous vote last week, Peciado, Lopez and Jackson each approved changing the commission\u2019s rules to give affordable housing projects in coastal areas more time to be built, from two to five years after permits are issued. Lee was not at the Nov. 6 meeting.<\/p>\n

Staff and commissioners hailed the change as a step in the right direction for affordable housing developments that cannot be financed quickly enough under the previous two-year deadline.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think next year would be a good opportunity to roll out an education campaign in the Legislature to highlight some of the movements we made toward this,\u201d Commissioner Linda Escalante said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if we can have a white paper that we can walk around with and figure out some of the reputation issues that we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

A history of protecting the coastline<\/p>\n

Critics of the agency point to the exorbitant coastal housing prices, some of the highest in the country, and the disproportionate number of white residents, as exacerbating the housing shortage. To some, the commission\u2019s priorities have not matched the urgency of lawmakers and local officials to help solve the cost problem.<\/p>\n

Two-thirds of coastal residents are white, about twice as many as in the state as a whole, according to an analysis<\/a> by Nicholas Depsky at the United Nations Development Programme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fewer than 2.5% of California residents<\/a> live in coastal cities, or \u201ccoastal zones,\u201d which comprise less than 1% of land in the state but are home to some of the most valuable real estate in the world, from Malibu to Marin.<\/p>\n

The Coastal Commission began as a 1972 ballot initiative in the shadow of the 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill, one of the worst environmental disasters in the country at the time. Amid a broader national environmental movement, there was greater concern about how to protect California\u2019s coveted shoreline in the midst of unregulated offshore drilling and fears of relentless development that would mirror Miami\u2019s coastline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Four years later, the state Legislature made the commission permanent with the Coastal Act to protect its natural habitats and keep beaches open to the public.<\/p>\n

Early tensions between then-Gov. Jerry Brown and the commission brewed when he slammed its members as \u201cbureaucratic thugs\u201d in 1978, just years after championing its creation. Brown would spend his final years in office, nearly 40 years later, roiled by criticism from environmentalists<\/a> who accused him of appointing commissioners who were too pro-development. Those fears were heightened with the ousting of executive director Charles Lester in 2016, a strong advocate for coastal protection.<\/p>\n

Scrutiny of the commission has accelerated in the Newsom administration, as the governor has publicly chided the agency for its broad powers. After the Los Angeles fires, he swiftly moved to suspend all of its authority over rebuilding efforts in the Pacific Palisades, which abut the coastline.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last year, the commission rejected billionaire Elon Musk\u2019s proposal to increase the number of SpaceX rocket launches off the Santa Barbara coast while criticizing his support of President Donald Trump. Newsom said he was \u201cwith Elon\u201d after the company filed a lawsuit claiming political discrimination. The case is still pending.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lee, the newest commissioner, hails from Los Angeles and has built a reputation as a prolific builder known for revitalizing Koreatown. Her real estate company, Jamison properties, has built 6,600 multifamily units and is one of the largest private landowners in Los Angeles, according to its website.<\/p>\n

Lee did not return emails and phone calls seeking comment from CalMatters.<\/p>\n

The new appointments have made many pro-housing advocates hopeful. \u201cWe now have three out of 12 voting members who are appointed to the commission in this period when many legislators and the governor want reform at the commission to design more affordable housing,\u201d said Louis Mirante, a lobbyist with the business coalition Bay Area Council. \u201cThat tells me that these members will probably move that vision forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lopez, who has emphasized his support for affordable housing on the coast since joining the commission, said the optimism is warranted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that that excitement is well placed given where we\u2019re sitting at right now and given the voice that the speaker and the governor are giving at this issue and wanting to see a remedy to it,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cAnd I do feel it\u2019s the reason I was put here was to have that conversation at the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n

Environmental advocates watch<\/p>\n

Environmentalists have mostly been quiet about the new appointments. Instead, they are waiting to see how they vote before raising the alarm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile there have been concerns expressed within the environmental movement, at this point we have no idea how this commissioner (Lee) will be,\u201d said Jennifer Savage, associate director of Surfrider Foundation, a coastal protection advocacy group. Lee was not an obvious choice for many, but Savage is optimistic that she\u2019ll support coastal protection.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s actually not that surprising that the governor would appoint someone with housing expertise,\u201d given the political climate, she continued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A longtime local water authority official and current administrator at San Diego State University, Preciado said part of his pitch for the role to Democratic leaders was that he wanted to see more of the coast developed to help create jobs and homes for working-class families.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a keen interest in developing the California coast in such a way where underrepresented communities that live on the coast have more access,\u201d Preciado said of himself and Lopez.<\/p>\n

Wealthy coastal residents have long sparred with the commission over violations for blocking public access, such as Silicon Valley billionaire Vinod Khosla, who has been entangled in a slew of legal fights<\/a> with regulators and coastal groups for years over access to Martins Beach near Half Moon Bay.<\/p>\n

Many commissioners and staff view protecting public access and conservation as their primary purpose rather than housing policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Conservationism is out of style, even among Democrats, which has led support for the commission to dramatically shift in recent years, according to legislative director Sarah Christie.<\/p>\n

To some commissioners, lawmakers\u2019 push to rip away more and more of its housing authority is a misguided attempt to simplify a complex issue. They point out that about 80% of coastal cities and counties have their own coastal laws and are not subject to the commission.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s creating a lot of chaos and dysfunction at the local level and is making it harder,\u201d Christie said of the movement toward slashing housing regulations. \u201cIn the Legislature\u2019s enthusiasm and zeal in order to effectuate housing more quickly, they\u2019re kind of stepping on themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson, a commissioner who represents the South Bay, said lawmakers need to focus more on affordable housing rather than increasing supply more broadly.<\/p>\n

Special environmental considerations and its highly sought after nature are what make the coastal zone uniquely expensive, Preciado said. \u201cI think that a broader view, a more objective view, is that developing on the coast is different than developing in urban areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

CalMatters<\/a>\u00a0is a nonpartisan and nonprofit news organization bringing Californians stories that probe, explain and explore solutions to quality of life issues while holding our leaders accountable.<\/p>\n

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