Californians are right to be frustrated with the state’s high cost of living. But blaming the California Coastal Commission – as Shawn VanDiver’s recent piece in the Orange County Register does – is misguided and inaccurate.
For generations, the Coastal Commission has safeguarded California’s most beloved and defining natural feature: our coast. As a result, it has remained a public treasure, not a private playground walled off by gated mansions and Atlantic City-style high rises.
California state law enshrines the health of the coast and the public’s right to access it, so families from San Bernardino to Santa Ana to San Clemente can enjoy surfing, sand, and open space. Thanks to the Commission’s efforts, more Californians of all backgrounds are enjoying family beach days, sending their kids to coastal education programs, and building their own connections with California’s great outdoors.
VanDiver’s call for “abundance” ignores an essential question: abundance for whom? For owners of coastal vacation homes who would love to close off beach access to the public? For developers who want to bulldoze coastal wetlands for luxury hotels? What is abundance, without fairness?
The truth is, the Coastal Commission is one of the few institutions that regularly stands up to powerful special interests on the public’s behalf. Last month, it protected California beaches and state parks by levying an $18 million fine against a Texas oil company for installing a dangerous pipeline without required permits or oversight so that it could ramp up new offshore drilling. More oil spills? No thanks.
The assertion that the Commission arbitrarily delays housing projects is simply false. By law, it must consider public access, wildlife, and public safety in permitting decisions. It scrutinizes projects that would put people in the path of climate-driven wildfires, floods, or sea-level rise. It takes the long view – something private developers, who often cash out the moment a property is sold, aren’t incentivized to do.
A recent report projected that more than 80,000 homes in the New York City area will be lost to worsening coastal flooding in the next 15 years. Do we really want to repeat that mistake in California by allowing unsafe coastal development now, only to pay the price later?
And let’s be clear: it’s not the Coastal Commission that’s holding up housing. Today, the Commission is directly responsible for housing permits in just 10 percent of the Coastal Zone. Local governments cover the rest. Of the few projects appealed to the Commission, more than half were resolved in under two months, usually affirming the local approval. Just last month, the Commission approved 2,224 units of new student housing at UC Santa Barbara after just four months of review, while incorporating important improvements that protect wildlife and restore native habitats.
Even the example VanDiver cites – the Pacific Palisades Jack in the Box redevelopment – is misleading. The Commission actually supported the housing project, overruling local opposition so the project could proceed. Subsequent delays weren’t due to “red tape,” but to the developer’s initial failure to consult with the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians about the site’s cultural resources. That’s not obstruction – it’s fairness and respect for Indigenous communities.
When the Commission does say “no,” it’s for good reason. Remember the Poseidon desalination proposal in Huntington Beach? After careful consideration, it was rejected because its outdated technology would’ve killed ocean wildlife, polluted coastal waters, and sharply raised household water prices for Orange County’s working families – all for private profit. Poseidon managed to secure a permit for a similar investor-owned plant in San Diego County, which has proven to be both unnecessary and a significant reason for a nearly 20 percent water rate hike imposed on San Diegans over the past year. Preventing Orange County from a similar fate is oversight we should celebrate, not vilify.
Like all Californians, the people of Orange County cherish our coast for its beauty and as a space that connects us to nature and each other. Its benefits are for everyone. We should be skeptical of anyone who says we should reduce the very protections that make the coast so valuable, especially when their attacks misrepresent the Coastal Commission’s actual record.
California can build more housing while preserving our great coastline for all. In that challenge, the Coastal Commission isn’t the problem. It’s part of the solution.
Garry Brown is the founder and president of Orange County Coastkeeper, a nonprofit organization with a mission to protect swimmable, drinkable, fishable water and promote watershed resilience throughout the region.
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