CCC Expected to Appeal Permit Changes

SAN FRANCISCO-The executive director of the California Coastal Commission says that he expects the agency to appeal a “stunning” ruling that declared the commission’s structure unconstitutional. Executive director Peter Douglas says the commission will decideat a meeting in Los Angeles this week whether to ask the California Supreme Court to review the decision by a state Court of Appeal panel in Sacramento.

Douglas says he can’t speak for commission members, but says he considers an appeal very likely. He says that if the decision is not successfully appealed, the San Francisco-based commission could ask a court, the Legislature or even the state’s voters to change the conditions of appointing commission members so that the system is constitutional.

“It is a stunning ruling,” Douglas says. “The commission has operated for 30 years with this structure. To have it struck down is kind of a surprise. Nonetheless, there is a solution.