Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. v. California Coastal Zone Conservation Commission

SIMS, Acting P. J., Concurring.

I concur in the foregoing decision. I fully agree that where the agency is charged with refraining from issuing a permit until it has found that the development will not have any substantial adverse environmental or ecological effect (Pub. Resources Code, § 27402, subd. (a)), that it is not necessary to secure an environmental impact report under the provisions of C.E.Q.A. The record of the commission of course must sustain a finding that the development will not have such an. effect.

The fundamental question here is whether the commission has properly disregarded the consequences which will result from the total population to be sustained if the subdivision of which applicants’ lots are a part is fully built out. It seems to me that at some point a beginning must be made to avoid what appears to be the inevitable conflict between the results of that build out and the environmental purposes and objectives set forth in the California Coastal Zone Conservation Act of 1972. It would appear preferable to make that beginning at this time. I reluctantly acknowledge that the interim nature of the permit power prevents a permanent solution with these applications. In doing so I consider that any applicant, despite his reluctance to appear in these proceedings, if and when he elects to exercise the right to develop granted by the commission will be bound by the conditions imposed as set forth in the records of the regional and state commissions. Nor shall the granting of these permits limit in any way the power of any successor commission or regulatory body to impose appropriate restrictions in connection with further development.

A petition for a rehearing was denied May 4, 1976, and appellants’ petition for a hearing by the Supreme Court was denied June 2, 1976.