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# Coastal landowners offered a way to fight back
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/coastal-landowners-offered-a-way-to-fight-back/
- Published: 2003-08-22T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T02:49:45.000Z
- Author: Guest Author
- Tags: Environment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*By Daily Press staff*

A foundation has formed a new way for coastal landowners to protect their rights from the government.

Denouncing the California Coastal Commission by claiming that the agency makes ownership nearly impossible for many families in the state’s coastal region, the Sacramento-based Pacific Legal Foundation has unveiled a comprehensive project designed to help coastal property owners fight back.

The new legal effort, called “The Coastal Land Rights Project,” includes a special Web site, www.coastalhorrors.org, where coastal landowners may report regulatory excesses and unfair treatment by the Coastal Commission, or local coastal governments making decisions on their permits to build or make improvements on their properties within the state’s coastal zone.

Among its most notable cases against the state agency is the 1987 landmark Supreme Court ruling in Nollan v. California Coastal Commission which held that government entities may not use their permitting authority as a means to extract property concessions from landowners. In that case, the High Court described the regulatory methods of the Coastal Commission as “an out-and-out plan of extortion.”

In addition to investigating the “coastal horrors” reported on its Web site (www.coastalhorrors.org), PLF attorneys are closely monitoring public hearings held by the Coastal Commission. If warranted, they will go to court to challenge unreasonable permit conditions having no basis in law, challenge regulatory actions not authorized by the California Coastal Act, challenge denials or unfair limitations on building permits, or defend property owners who have been unjustly accused of violating the state’s Coastal Act. PLF attorneys also will make available to coastal landowners and their attorneys PLF’s extensive knowledge of the law developed in over 20 years of conflict with the California Coastal Commission. PLF legal experts will consult with landowners who have questions and concerns about regulatory red tape and legal obstacles they may be experiencing.

Founded in 1973, Pacific Legal Foundation is a Sacramento-based public interest legal organization dedicated to property rights protection, limited government and individual rights.

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 22, 2003.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/082203.pdf?ref=smdp.com)