School bests Coastal panel

St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School won its fight against the California Coastal Commission Sept. 17 at Orange County Superior Court, preventing the state body from interfering in its construction plans.

“It’s a very, very big win for us,” said attorney Paul Beard of the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation, which represented the school and the Diocese of Orange in the suit against the commission, which was filed at the beginning of the year.

He described the commission’s move as a “power grab” at the time.

“This ruling keeps decision-making over local land use in Laguna Beach where it belongs: with local, community and civic leaders,” Beard said. “This ruling recognizes that the Coastal Commission doesn’t have the legal authority to interfere in these local matters. The school is now able to proceed with presenting its environmentally responsible construction plans to city officials without intrusion from a state bureaucracy.”

The school has been planning to replace its dated facilities with a larger, more updated campus and applied to the city for a coastal development permit nearly two years ago.

Under the California Coastal Act, cities such as Laguna Beach — that have a Local Coastal Plan — issue their own coastal development permits, some of which are appealable to the commission.

During the permitting process, Laguna Beach resident Lisa Marks asked the city whether its decision could be appealed to the Coastal Commission.

When the city asked the Coastal Commission for its view, the commission decided it could be appealed.

The school and the Diocese of Orange then sued the commission in January, saying it had no right to step in.

The Coastal Commission based its decision that the project permit could be appealed on its belief that two drainage ditches within 100 feet of the project could be classified as “streams,” therefore placing the area under its jurisdiction.

City officials warned that the commission’s decision had larger implications for Laguna, because city approval of any other property in town that contained such a watercourse could be appealable to the commission.

City Manager Ken Frank publicly disagreed with the commission’s decision to step in, saying it opened the door to thousands of development projects to be appealed.

Jamee Patterson, the state supervising district attorney general who served as legal representation for the commission during oral argument, said the commission’s jurisdiction in the area was critical due to the presence of coastal sage on the property and the discovery of a threatened bird — the gnatcatcher — on the property, part of which is designated as an Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area.

The judge disagreed.

“I just can’t find there’s any reasonable definition of stream that indicates there’s a stream on this property,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Ronald Bauer said, while making his ruling from the bench.

Beard and longtime parishioners Barbara and Tristan Krogius said after the hearing they expect construction on the new campus to begin by June 2008, following the completion of the city approval process.

Beard said the Coastal Commission typically does not appeal local court decisions.