Excavation under way at Surfside, with the ocean beyond

Coastal Commission

Building in the California coastal zone.

What triggers a coastal permit, who issues it, when the Commission itself gets involved, and how a project moves through review.

What triggers a permit

Most coastal work needs a permit, and development means more than a new house.

The Coastal Act of 1976 drew a coastal zone along the length of California and put a permit between an owner and most work inside it. That permit is a Coastal Development Permit, usually shortened to CDP. The word development is defined broadly in the Act: it reaches grading, dividing land, and changing how intensively a site is used, not only putting up a building. Work that would be routine a mile inland can need a CDP here.

So the first question on a coastal property is not what you want to build. It is which process your parcel sits in, because that is settled parcel by parcel rather than neighborhood by neighborhood. Two houses on the same street can face different routes, and the answer decides the schedule, the drawings and often the design itself.

Who decides

City, Commission, or both.

A certified Local Coastal Program

A Local Coastal Program is a city's or county's own plan for its part of the coast, certified by the Commission as consistent with the Coastal Act. Where one is certified, the local agency issues most coastal development permits itself. Where there is none, the local agency, the Commission or both may be involved. Some areas, such as tidelands and submerged land, stay with the Commission directly. Which arrangement applies varies from place to place, and it is confirmed for each project.

Dual permit jurisdiction

Some locations need two permits, one from the local agency and a second from the Commission. This usually arises where no local program is certified, on the land nearest the water: seaward of the first public road along the coast, near the beach or the top of a coastal bluff, or beside a stream or wetland, which can reach well inland along a canyon. The boundaries are mapped, and two neighboring parcels can fall on different sides of one. Every property is different, and each one has to be looked into individually.

Appeals

Certain local decisions can be taken to the Commission on appeal, which turns a local approval into a state hearing. Whether a given parcel sits in an appealable location is a question to settle at the start, not after a design is finished.

Coastal and hillside work

Sites where the constraint is the design problem.

Waterproofed foundation walls stepping across a coastal site

Framed hallway with an ocean view at Mintcello

Castellamare Residence, an Apel Design project in Pacific Palisades

How it runs

The order an owner meets it in.

Establish jurisdiction

Confirm with the governing agency whether the parcel is in the coastal zone, which body issues its permit, whether it sits in a dual permit or appealable area, and which requirements currently apply. Everything else follows from this answer, so it is worth paying for early certainty.

Design to the policies that bite

Bluff and shoreline setbacks, public view corridors, public access, habitat, drainage, geology, and the height and grading limits the local plan sets. These are not finishing constraints. They decide massing.

Assemble the record

Survey, geotechnical and coastal hazard work, biology where it applies, and drawings that answer the policies directly rather than leaving them to be raised at a hearing.

Hearing and conditions

Expect conditions, and expect them to reach into the construction drawings. A condition that is agreed and then not drawn is the most expensive kind.

Coastal review runs on public hearing calendars rather than on a construction schedule. Plan in months, not weeks, and plan for the possibility of an appeal.

Rebuilding after a disaster

Rebuilding has its own rules, and they can change.

The Coastal Act gives special treatment to a structure lost to a fire, flood or other disaster beyond the owner's control. A replacement that keeps the same use, respects the zoning that applies, stands in essentially the same place and is no more than 10 percent larger in floor area, height or bulk does not need a full coastal development permit. That does not mean it can simply go ahead. It qualifies for a special fast-track process instead, in which the city or county, or in some areas the Coastal Commission, confirms that the rebuild meets these tests before building permits are issued.

A rebuild that grows beyond those limits, moves or changes use usually needs further review, and often a full coastal development permit. Every property is different, and each one has to be looked into individually.

The rules change over time. What applies to a particular parcel and scope is confirmed with the governing agency at the start of every project, before a design commits to it.

Fire rebuild, from loss to a clear way forward

How we work inside it

Coastal constraints are handled as design, not as paperwork at the end.

Apel Design takes beachfront projects through coastal review. That work runs to the coastal engineering a shoreline parcel needs, wave uprush analysis among it, the hazard and compatibility material a coastal file has to carry, the neighbor notification a coastal application attracts, and the revisions that follow a correction letter. It is slow and it is technical, and on an oceanfront parcel it is the part that decides whether anything gets built at all.

The studio works on both sides of the county line, in the Malibu and Pacific Palisades coastal zones, and it establishes which process a parcel sits in before the design commits to anything, shapes the scheme around the policies that will decide it, assembles and coordinates the consultant record, and carries the conditions through into the drawings that get built. Architectural services are performed in association with Michael B. Maclaren, AIA.

Recent coastal work: Beachfront Residence, Malibu ↗

This page explains a process. It is not legal advice, and nobody can promise a permit. Coastal rules and the way they are applied change over time, so the requirements for each project are confirmed with the governing agency when the work begins.

Questions

Useful answers before we begin.

Do I need a coastal permit to remodel rather than build new?

Often yes. Development is defined broadly enough to reach grading, additions, changes in the intensity of use and some work that does not look like building at all. The test is the definition and the parcel, not the size of the job.

Who issues the permit, the city or the Commission?

It depends on the parcel. Where the city or county has a certified Local Coastal Program, the local agency usually issues it. Some locations need a local permit and a second one from the Commission, and some areas stay with the Commission alone. Which applies is confirmed for each parcel at the start.

What is dual permit jurisdiction?

An area where a project needs two coastal permits, one from the local agency and a second from the Commission. It usually arises where no local program is certified, on the land nearest the water: seaward of the first public road along the coast, near the beach or the top of a coastal bluff, or beside a stream or wetland. The boundaries are mapped, and every property is different, so each one has to be looked into individually.

Can a local approval be appealed?

In defined appeal areas, yes, and an appeal moves the decision to a state hearing. Whether a parcel is appealable should be established at the start of a project rather than discovered late.

How long does coastal review take?

Long enough that it belongs in the schedule from the first week. It runs on public hearing calendars, so plan in months, and allow for an appeal to add more. The time varies with the jurisdiction, the site and the scope.

Can I rebuild after a fire without a coastal permit?

Often, yes, but not without any approval. A home destroyed by a fire or other disaster beyond the owner's control can be replaced without a full coastal development permit if it keeps the same use, respects the zoning that applies, sits in essentially the same place and is no more than 10 percent larger in floor area, height or bulk. Instead it goes through a special fast-track process, in which the city or county, or in some areas the Coastal Commission, confirms that the rebuild qualifies before building permits are issued. A rebuild beyond those limits usually needs further review, and often a full coastal development permit. Every property is different, and each one has to be looked into individually.

Bring us the coastal parcel, and we will establish where it stands before anything is drawn.

Ask about a permit

Or ask one question, or call (310) 317-0500.