Danger ahead for Coastal Commission

Paul Clinton

NEWPORT BEACH -- The future of the California Coastal Commission is

definitely in jeopardy because of a lawsuit filed by a Newport Beach man,

the commission’s head said Friday.

Speaking at a meeting of the Orange County Coast Assn., executive

director Peter Douglas spent a chunk of time discussing Rudolph

Streichenberger’s suit as well as chronicling the commission’s nearly

30-year history.

In April, a Sacramento County superior court judge ruled on

Streichenberger’s case, finding that the state’s coastal regulator is

unconstitutional because it isn’t accountable to other branches of

government. That violates the separation of powers clause of the state

constitution.

“It does put a cloud over commission decisions,” Douglas said. “If

this decision stands, it will bring state government in California to a

grinding halt.”

Streichenberger, who founded the Marine Forests Society, sued the

commission after it ordered him to remove a man-made reef off Newport

Beach. He also accused the commission of overstepping its bounds.

At the luncheon, Douglas said a rash of other suits against the

commission have accused it of being unconstitutional in the wake of the

April ruling.

“Everyone wants to be a part of history,” Douglas said. “I think we’re

probably the most sued agency, other than Caltrans and the Department of

Corrections. We’re always in court.”

Douglas has devoted most of his life to a commission he helped create.

Douglas co-authored the 1972 state ballot initiative that created the

Coastal Act four years later. That law implemented a series of regulatory

limitations on coastal development. It also created the commission.

“It forever changed the pattern of coastal development,” said Marian

Bergeson, a former state senator. Bergeson, the association’s president,

introduced Douglas to a packed dining room at Newport Dunes.

Coastal commission attorneys have appealed the April ruling, which

could be heard as early as July. The next stop, Douglas said, is expected

to be the state’s Supreme Court.