SAN FRANCISCO — The California Supreme Court on Thursday removed a legal cloud that had threatened to wipe out 30 years of restrictions on coastal development, ruling unanimously that the makeup of the state Coastal Commission meets constitutional requirements.
The ruling, written by Chief Justice Ronald M. George, ends years of legal wrangling and uncertainty over the regulatory agency, which controls development along 1,100 miles of California's coastline.
Critics of the commission, including the building industry, won a major victory several years ago when two lower courts ruled that the way commission members were appointed was unconstitutional.
Those rulings could have invalidated tens of thousands of decisions the commission has made since it was formed in 1973.
Although the Legislature hastily passed a new law to meet the courts' concerns, opponents continued to insist that the Coastal Commission's makeup was illegal. The Legislature appoints most of the commissioners even though the commission is an executive agency under the governor, violating the separation of powers, foes said.
The California Supreme Court agreed that the previous appointment process raised a "serious" constitutional question because the Legislature could replace appointees at will, opening the commission to political meddling.
But the state high court decided that the Legislature's subsequent actions, creating fixed terms for its appointees, had solved the problem.
"The four-year term now ... is longer than the average length of time that an incumbent has served in the office of speaker of the Assembly since the advent of legislative term limits in 1990," George wrote.
Noting the "debilitating effect" if they had to order new hearings and votes on past development decisions, the justices said "past actions of the Commission could not be properly challenged," in part because legal deadlines for appeals have expired.
Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, whose office defended the Coastal Commission, called the ruling "a victory for our world-class coastline and the people of California."
"The court has found that what matters most is protecting the coast," Lockyer said.
Members and staff of the Coastal Commission and environmental activists said they were relieved that the court removed the doubts that have shrouded the commission since 2001.
