Developer can finally build homes in SLO County beach town, CA Supreme Court rules
The California Supreme Court decided that a developer can keep its permit to build three new homes in Los Osos.
In 2019, San Luis Obispo County issued a coastal development permit to Shear Development Co. to build those three homes.
The California Coastal Commission, however, appealed the county’s decision and revoked the permit, saying that the homes would be built in a sensitive coastal resource area.
Both a superior court and an appellate court upheld the commission’s decision in 2021 and 2024, respectively, and on Dec. 3, the California Supreme Court heard oral arguments for the case.
On Thursday, the California Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the California Coastal Commission did not have the jurisdiction to revoke the 2019 permit.
This decision validates the permit, which means Shear Development can proceed with building those three homes.
Furthermore, the ruling said that the court shouldn’t defer to the Coastal Commission or local governments in disputes over Local Coastal Program interpretations. Instead, the courts should make those decision on a case by case basis according to the facts at hand, without assuming that one agency understands the law better than the other.
“It’s a total victory,” Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Jeremy Talcott told The Tribune. He represented Shear Development at no cost all the way to the California Supreme Court.
“It’s huge,” he said. “There really hasn’t been a major decision from the California Supreme Court over the Coastal Act in over 20 years. During that time, the commission has routinely aggrandized its power unlawfully, and this definitely represents a judicial reining in on the commission’s authority and putting them back within their statutory limits.”
The Coastal Commission, however, does not believe this case will affect its future authority in Los Osos because the county approved an amendment to the Local Coastal Program that addresses issues related to such projects. The amended Local Coastal Program created a priority conservation zone in the greenbelt surrounding the urban center of Los Osos. Shear’s property is not included in the conservation zone.
Additionally, the amendment created a process for developers building in the urban center of Los Osos — where the Shear property is located — to pay mitigation fees if they disturb sensitive habitat. Because Shear will keep the 2019 permit, the developer will not need to pay those mitigation fees, but future projects will. “We’re still evaluating the full implications of this case, but on initial review, it doesn’t seem to have significant implications for the commission’s program or authority,” the commission said in a statement. “The decision has little impact on the Shear Development project as the county has since resolved the habitat, sewage and drinking water issues that initially raised concerns with our agency.”
Developer clashes with CA Coastal Commission
In 2003, the developer bought eight lots in a residential neighborhood on Mar Vista Drive and Highland Drive, according to Pacific Legal Foundation.
In 2004, the county issued a coastal development permit that allowed for construction to occur in two phases.
First, Shear Development could build four homes that would be reliant on individual septic systems. At the time, Los Osos didn’t have a community sewer system. Then, Shear could build the remaining homes once Los Osos had a community sewer, the permit said.
The Coastal Commission appealed the permit to itself, and approved the construction of the first four homes — but ordered Shear to return to the county for a new coastal development permit to build the second group of homes, according to court documents.
Shear Development built the first four homes, and years later in 2016, the county started operating the Los Osos sewage treatment plant — opening the door to a limited amount of new development in the community.
In 2019, the county granted the developer a coastal development permit to build three more homes on the property. The commission appealed that permit to itself, then denied it.
At the time, the commission said the property was in a sensitive coastal resource area because it contained Los Osos dune sands.
The commission used a map of dune sands included in the county’s Local Coastal Program to make this designation. A Local Coastal Program is a plan developed by a local government in a coastal area to guide long-term development in its community.
That map, however, did not identify the property as an environmentally sensitive habitat area; it only said that property contained dune sands. The commission said that the dune sands indicated that the property is environmentally sensitive.
Meanwhile, the 2019 version of the Local Coastal Program also included an official map of environmentally sensitive habitat areas, which did not include the developer’s property.
Ultimately, the court ruled that the Local Coastal Program does not indicate that the property is an environmentally sensitive habitat area — so the commission did not have jurisdiction to appeal and revoke the permit, the decision said.
This means Shear Development gets to keep its 2019 permit and build those three homes.
