Cal.Sup.Ct.;
S221980

The California Supreme Court affirmed a court of appeal decision. The court held that homeowners who accepted the benefits of a California Coastal Commission permit to rebuild a damaged seawall forfeited any challenge to the conditions imposed by the Commission as part of that permit.

Barbara Lynch and Thomas Frick owned adjacent, bluff-top homes protected by a seawall and a mid-bluff retaining wall. A private stairway provided access to the beach. A severe storm caused the bluff below Lynch's home to collapse, destroying portions of the seawall, retaining wall, and stairway. The homeowners applied to the California Coastal Commission for a permit to demolish the existing support structures, construct a new seawall, and rebuild the stairway. The Commission approved a coastal development permit¹* allowing seawall demolition and reconstruction on conditions (1) that the stairway not be rebuilt and (2) that the seawall permit expire in 20 years. The homeowners objected to these conditions, without success. The homeowners filed a petition for writ of administrative mandate challenging the two conditions. While that petition was pending, the homeowners obtained the permit and built the seawall.