Ackerberg v. Cal. Coastal Com.
An owner of beachfront real property in Malibu, California, dedicated two public accessway easements on the property, one vertical and one lateral, as mitigation for development permits under the California Coastal Act of 1976 (Coastal Act). (Pub. Resources Code, §§ 30000–30900; all undesignated section references are to that code.) Later, at a public hearing, the California Coastal Commission (Commission) issued an administrative cease and desist order to remove development from the easements so they could be opened and provide public access to the beach. Before the Commission, the landowner argued that (1) the offer to dedicate the vertical easement was subject to an unfulfilled condition precedent — a nearby publicly owned easement would be opened first — and (2) the order was precluded by res judicata based on the judgment in a prior lawsuit between the landowner and a nonprofit organization concerning the opening of the vertical easement on the landowner’s property. The Commission rejected those arguments and issued the cease and desist order in an effort to open the landowner’s easements.
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