Smoke and Mirrors in Sacramento – AB 1129 is a Taking!
By passage of AB 1129, the Coastal Commission will alter the definition of “existing”, as used numerous times in the Coastal Act. It is a 180 degree change from previous interpretations of the Coastal Act that guarantee protections of property by the Coastal Commission. Property owners and Public Agencies rely on the Coastal Commission’s stated interpretation and they have relied on that interpretation for over 40 years. Should Coastal and or legislation now change that interpretation and retroactively define it as anything built before 1977, it is a taking.
Excerpts from Coastal Commission arguments before the California Court of Appeals supporting the common, logical meaning of "existing"
In their opening statement, they wrote: “This is a case in which the rules of statutory construction, sound public policy and common sense converge in harmony”
