Newsom reaffirms order to Coastal Commission to expedite wildfire rebuilding

Highlighting his clashes with the powerful Coastal Commission, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order Monday directing it to avoid any action that prevents property owners in fire-ravaged areas "to rebuild swiftly, without needing to undertake permitting or any other procedures under the California Coastal Act."

The governor chided the commission for issuing guidance "that purports to apply the California Coastal Act's statutory permit exemption provision, which generally triggers additional local approval procedures and potential appeals, to projects covered" by his previous executive orders earlier this month. Newsom, in his order, called the commission's position "legally erroneous."

The order attempts to resolve a dispute between the governor and the commission, which oversees development along the Pacific Coast, over how rebuilding efforts would proceed.

"It just shows how ingrained the Coastal Act and the Coastal Commission are," said Alexander M. DeGood, a Los Angeles partner with Cox, Castle & Nicholson LLP, in a phone interview. "They act like they're a state unto themselves. The governor had to go back and issue another order to tell them to knock it off."

"It's clear to me that Newsom is saying, 'I meant what I said,'" he said.

The governor previously issued a waiver Jan. 13 on all permitting requirements under the Coastal Act and the California Environmental Quality Act to fast-track reconstruction efforts, as well as a second order Jan. 16 to help cities develop temporary housing plans.

"All statutory exemption criteria, appeal or review periods, procedures for seeking an exemption, and all other requirements to make any submission under the California Coastal Act, are suspended for any project to the extent they were not already suspended by [two previous executive orders]," Newsom wrote.

DeGood said he was not surprised by the new order because a Jan. 12 executive order did not exempt cities along the Pacific Ocean from complying with local zoning laws - which are approved by the Coastal Commision under a Local Coastal Program, or LCP.

"You put the city of Malibu in a difficult position," he said, because they would not want to run afoul of the 15-member commission, which has the authority under state law to decertify a city's LCP.

The commission, established by voter initiative in 1972 and made permanent by the state Legislature four years later, includes the governor's own appointees as well as representatives picked by leaders in the state Legislature, plans and regulates land and water in the coastal zone as well as any developmental activities, according to its website.

The commission, which zealously guards public access to coastline along the Pacific Ocean, and its members could not be reached as of press time.

Even though he appointed some of its members, the governor has repeatedly disagreed with the commission.

In 2022, the commission rejected a proposed desalination plant in Huntington Beach backed by Newsom. In October, the commission voted against a U.S. Air Force plan to give Space Exploration Technlogies Corp., or SpaceX, permission launch up to 50 rockets a year from Vandenberg Air Force Base, a decision denounced both by Newsom and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

Newsom and Los Angeles County leaders are pushing to get rapid approval to rebuild homes that were burned down during the fires this month, moving quickly to get government approval instead of what is often a lengthy, bureaucratic process.

While such moves may be popular, they do not address other issues faced by homeowners. Some didn't have home insurance or had it cancelled recently, and others may have difficulty getting insurance if homeowners all rebuild houses on the same location.

Newsom's executive order Monday also waived a 30-day limit for fire victims in a hotel, motel, residence club or other Los Angeles County facility, declaring they have shall have transient occupancy status through March 8.