2023 California Code › Public Resources Code - PRC › DIVISION 20 - CALIFORNIA COASTAL ACT › CHAPTER 7 - Development Controls › ARTICLE 1 - General Provisions › Section 30600.5.

30600.5. (a) Prior to the certification of a local coastal program and notwithstanding the provisions of subdivision (a) of Section 30519, after the effective date of this section, the authority for issuance of coastal development permits provided for in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 30600) shall be delegated to local governments pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(b) Except for any development specified in subdivision (b) of Section 30519 and Section 30601 or with respect to any development proposed by any state agency, the authority for issuance of coastal development permits provided for in Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 30600) shall be delegated to the respective local governments within 120 days after (1) the effective date of certification of a land use plan pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 30500) or (2) the effective date of this section, whichever occurs last. This delegation shall only apply with respect to those areas governed by the certified land use plan or a certified portion thereof, applicable to an identifiable geographic area.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this division, after delegation of authority to issue coastal development permits pursuant to subdivision (b), a coastal development permit shall be issued by the respective local government or the commission on appeal, if that local government or the commission on appeal finds that the proposed development is in conformity with the certified land use plan.
(d) Any action taken by a local government on a coastal development permit application pursuant to the provisions of this section may be appealed to the commission pursuant to Section 30602. The commission shall hear an appeal brought pursuant to the provisions of this section, unless it determines that the local government action taken raises no substantial issue as to conformity with the certified land use plan. For purposes of this subdivision, failure by any local government to act within any time limit specified in this division shall constitute an “action taken.”
(e) The commission shall, following a public hearing and within 90 days after the effective date of this section, adopt minimum standards for public notice, hearing, and appeal procedures to govern local government review of coastal development permit applications pursuant to this section. The standards shall, as nearly as practical, follow the standards required for local agencies after certification of local coastal programs for appealable developments and shall ensure that the notice and hearing required for the coastal development permit can be provided at the same time as the notice and hearing requirements for other local land use decisions that may be necessary for the project requiring the permit. Within 60 days before assumption of authority for issuance of coastal development permits pursuant to this section, the local government shall provide drafts of all procedures for issuance of coastal development permits to the executive director of the commission. Delegation of the authority to issue coastal development permits pursuant to subdivision (b) shall not occur until the local government has provided copies of all the adopted procedures for the issuance of coastal development permits to the executive director of the commission. Any amendments to the procedures shall also be furnished to the executive director for their information.
(f) Prior to the delegation of authority to issue coastal development permits as provided in subdivision (b), a local government, after appropriate notice and hearing, shall adopt an ordinance prescribing the procedures to be used in issuing coastal development permits. Each ordinance shall incorporate at least the minimum standards for public notice, hearings, and appeals established by the commission pursuant to subdivision (e). In addition, each ordinance shall contain provisions that prohibit the issuance of a coastal development permit for any development that may conflict with the ordinances that are being prepared to implement the certified land use plan.
(g) In order to expedite certification of complete local coastal programs and the transfer of coastal development controls to local government, the commission shall, on request from a local government, prepare the ordinances necessary for that local government to implement the coastal permit responsibilities of this division.
(h) The time limits set forth in subdivision (b) shall be extended, by right, for not more than 90 days if a local government, by resolution of its governing body, so requests.
(i) The provisions of this section and of any local ordinance enacted pursuant thereto shall have no further force or effect or application after that local government’s local coastal program has been certified and taken effect pursuant to the provisions of this division.
(j) This section shall become inoperative and shall have no force or effect on the date, if any, of a final judicial decision that its provisions are inconsistent with the requirements of the federal coastal act.
(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 97, Sec. 19. (SB 1497) Effective January 1, 2023. Conditionally inoperative as provided in subd. (j).)