Left drop shadow
Issues & Cases
Share this page
PLF Facebook PLF Facebook
PLF Twitter PLF Twitter
PLF YouTube PLF YouTube
PLF Liberty Blog Feed PLF Liberty Blog
Left navigation footer 		Home » Issues & Cases » Property Rights » Featured Case

Featured Case

Coastal Commission Can’t Stop Localities from Protecting Residents from Nuisances

Venice Stakeholders Association v. California Coastal Commission


Contact:  Paul J. Beard II

Status:  Amicus brief at trial level in preparation.

Summary:
The California Coastal Commission denied coastal development permits to the City of Los Angeles for the creation in Venice of Overnight Parking Districts, which prohibit nonresident parking on certain public streets between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., the purpose being to address crime, traffic, and other nuisance-related problems created by nonresident overnight parking.

Streets of Venice Beach
Streets of Venice Beach
The Venice Stakeholders Association, comprised of residents who support the OPDs, sued the Commission and the City, arguing among other things that the Commission has no jurisdiction over the OPDs for the following reasons: (1) the OPDs are not "developments," and (2) the Commission’s assertion of jurisdiction over them would run afoul of the Coastal Act’s explicit protection of the City’s power to abate public nuisances (Pub. Res. Code § 30005(b)). As amicus, PLF will support these positions and also argue that if the City’s OPDs are the result of the exercise of its power to abate a public nuisance, they are not subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction. Further, if the OPDs are "developments," they are nevertheless outside the Commission’s jurisdiction, because its assertion of jurisdiction would limit the power of the City to abate the alleged public nuisance created by nonresident overnight parking.
FREE PLF 'No To Big Government' Bumper Sticker

Case Resources
Case Summary
11/11/09 Coastal Guardian