City of Half Moon Bay v. Superior Court

• Decision Date: 28 February 2003
• Docket Number: No. A100099.,A100099.
• Citation: 106 Cal.App.4th 795,131 Cal.Rptr.2d 213
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals
• Parties: CITY OF HALF MOON BAY et al., Petitioners, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of San Mateo County, Respondent; Joyce Yamagiwa, as Trustee, etc., Real Party in Interest.

131 Cal.Rptr.2d 213

106 Cal.App.4th 795

CITY OF HALF MOON BAY et al., Petitioners, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of San Mateo County, Respondent Joyce Yamagiwa, as Trustee, etc., Real Party in Interest.

No. A100099.

Court of Appeal, First District, Division Four.

February 28, 2003.

As Modified on Denial of Rehearing March 27, 2003.

Julia L. Bond, Rick W. Jarvis, San Leandro, Amrit Kulkarni, Meyers, Nave, Riback, Silver & Wilson, for Petitioner City of Half Moon Bay.

Bill Lockyer, Attorney General, Richard M. Frank, Chief Assistant Attorney General, J. Matthew Rodriquez, Assistant Attorney General, Tara L. Mueller, Deputy Attorney General, for California Coastal Commission.

No appearance for Respondent.

Edgar B. Washburn, Anne E. Mudge, San Francisco, Christine W. Griffith, Kelly A. Cole, Stoel Rives; Edward G. Burg, Craig M. Collins, Los Angeles, Berger & Norton, for Real Party in Interest.

RIVERA, J.

This case comes to us on a petition for extraordinary relief. The issue is whether the California Coastal Commission has appellate jurisdiction to modify a local government's permit approval that was issued solely to comply with a court order in a proceeding in which the Commission was a party litigant. We conclude the Commission does not have appellate jurisdiction under these circumstances. Accordingly, we deny the peremptory writ.

I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

This case has a long and complicated procedural history, stretching back to plans for development in the 1970's. We will recite only those facts necessary to the understanding and resolution of the narrow issue we are deciding in this writ proceeding.

A. Half Moon Bay's Review of the Beachwood Subdivision

Real party in interest Joyce Yamagiwa is the owner of approximately 24 acres of undeveloped property known as the Beachwood Subdivision.¹ The property is located in the City of Half Moon Bay (the City), to the east of coastal State Highway 1. In 1990, the City approved a vesting tentative map for 85 residential lots on the site pursuant to the Subdivision Map Act (Gov.Code, § 66410 et seq.).² However, development plans stalled in 1991 when the City imposed a moratorium on the issuance of building permits for structures that required a new sewer permit. The moratorium ultimately extended through March 1998.

Because the Beachwood Subdivision is in the coastal zone, under the California Coastal Act of 1976 (the Coastal Act),³ the site could not be developed without a coastal development permit (CDP). (§ 30600, subd. (a);) Accordingly, in 1997 or 1998 — in anticipation of the expiration of the sewer moratorium — Beachwood applied for a CDP from the City.⁴

The City reviewed the application for compliance with its certified local coastal program (LCP). This review required the City to determine, inter alia, whether the proposed development would have an adverse impact on any wetlands. The City's LCP contained the following relevant definition: "Wetland is an area where the water table is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to bring about the formation of hydric soils or to support the growth of plants which normally are found to grow in water or wet ground. Such wetlands can include mudflats (barren of vegetation), marshes, and swamps. Such wetlands can be either fresh or saltwater, along streams (riparian), in tidally influenced areas (near the ocean and usually below extreme high water of spring tides), marginal to lakes, ponds, and man-made impoundments. Wetlands do not include areas which in normal rainfall years are permanently submerged (streams, lakes, ponds and impoundments), nor marine or estuarine areas below extreme low water of spring tides, nor vernally wet areas where the soils are not hydric."⁵ In explaining the reasons for adopting this definition, the LCP stated: "This definition embraces several important concepts which are relevant to the San Mateo Coast: (1) the relationship of the water table with respect to the ground surface; (2) the duration of the water on or at the surface; (3) the soil types involved with the permanent or temporary saturated conditions; and (4) the flora and fauna adapted to the wet conditions. [¶] The most important feature which acts as a common denominator is the soil as indicated in Item 3, above."

During the processing of Beachwood's application for a CDP, a controversy developed about how to interpret the LCP's definition of wetlands. Specifically, the parties disagreed about how to reconcile two of its provisions: (1) the provision that a wetland is "an area where the water table is at, near, or above the land surface long enough to bring about the formation of hydric soils or to support the growth of plants which normally are found to grow in water or wet ground," and (2) the provision that wetlands do not include "vernally wet areas where the soils are not hydric." (Italics added.) Beachwood and its consultants took the position that the exception for vernally wet areas where the soils were not hydric meant that such areas were excluded from the definition of wetlands, even in the presence of hydrophytic vegetation.⁶ The City asked the Commission for an advisory opinion on the issue. The Commission took the position that the LCP defines wetlands to include areas where the water table is near the land surface long enough to support the growth of wetland vegetation, even if the water table is not near the surface long enough to support the formation of hydric soils, and that the exclusion of vernally wet areas "excludes only vernally wet areas with neither hydric soils nor hydrophytes."

During its review of the CDP application, the City received expert evidence that there was hydrophytic vegetation on the property, and Beachwood has not contended otherwise.⁷ The City also received expert reports on whether hydric soils existed on the site. While some of these reports indicated that the soils on the site did not have the physical characteristics commonly found in hydric soils, one report stated: "[O]ur direct observation of long duration ponding on the site under circumstances that do not appear to be particularly abnormal is considered by [the National Technical Committee for Hydric Soils] to be a perfectly suitable field indicator of hydric soil conditions."

The City held a hearing on Beachwood's application for the CDP on March 21, 2000, and adopted a resolution denying the application on May 2, 2000. Basing its decision on the expert reports from its wetlands consultant, LSA Associates, Inc., the City Council found "there is clear evidence that the nine areas of the site identified by both LSA and [Beachwood's consultant] as including extensive hydrophytic plant cover are areas where the water table is at, near or above the land surface long enough to bring about the formation of the hydrophytic vegetation found in these areas. As such these areas are wetlands as defined in the City's LCP."

B. The First Writ of Mandate

On May 19, 2000, Beachwood petitioned the Superior Court of San Mateo County for a writ of mandate (case No. 413013), asking the court to command the City to approve the CDP in conformity with the vesting tentative map the City had approved in 1990. (§ 30802.) Beachwood's petition also included a complaint for damages and other relief. Beachwood argued that the court should exercise its independent judgment; that under the correct interpretation of the LCP, the evidence did not support a finding of wetlands; and that the City lacked discretion to change a finding made in 1990, in connection with approving the vesting tentative map, that the project was consistent with the LCP. By stipulation of the parties and pursuant to section 30802, the Commission intervened in the action, filed an opposition brief, and appeared and argued at the hearing on the petition for writ of mandate.

The superior court granted the petition for writ of mandate on February 23, 2001, ordering the City to issue the CDP to Beachwood in accordance with the vesting tentative map (the first writ of mandate).⁸ In its accompanying statement of decision, the court concluded that the City's interpretation of the wetlands definition was "not reasonable" and appeared to "circumvent the plain language of the LCP." The statement of decision also found that the reports in the record would not support a finding of hydric soils, and that Beachwood had a fundamental vested right that required the court to exercise its independent judgment.

C. Appeal to the Commission

The parties, including the Commission, then entered into a stipulation to stay litigation of all but one of the remaining causes of action. The stipulation recited that, in order for the parties to reach a settlement, "it will first be necessary for any proceedings before the Commission to be concluded, or for a determination to be reached by a court of law that the Commission lacks appellate jurisdiction over the CDP. An appeal to the Commission cannot occur until after the City has approved the CDP." In accordance with this stipulation, on May 4, 2001, the trial court stayed the litigation.

The City complied with the writ of mandate and approved the CDP on March 20, 2001. Four people, including two Coastal Commissioners, then appealed the City's action to the Commission. On May 10, 2001, the Commission determined it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal under the Coastal Act and that the appeal raised a substantial issue. (§§ 30603, subd. (b), 30625, subd. (b)(2).)⁹ Beachwood then filed a second petition for writ of mandate and complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief in the San Mateo County Superior Court (case No. 417189) on June 11, 2001, asking the court to order the Commission to set aside its assertion of jurisdiction. However, the court did not hear the matter before the Commission heard the appeal.

Pursuant to section 30621, the Commission held a de novo hearing on Beachwood's CDP application on September 14, 2001....