The scenic and visual qualities of coastal areas shall be considered and protected as a resource of public importance. Permitted development shall be sited and designed to protect views to and along the ocean and scenic coastal areas, to minimize the alteration of natural land forms, to be visually compatible with the character of surrounding areas, and, where feasible, to restore and enhance visual quality in visually degraded areas. New development in highly scenic areas such as those designated in the California Coastline Preservation and Recreation Plan prepared by the Department of Parks and Recreation and by local government shall be subordinate to the character of its setting.
Cal. Pub. Res. Code § 30251
Development
Known as the California Coastal Act
The act spans §§ 30000–30900 (326 sections).
Applied in 4 court decisions — leading case Landgate, Inc. v. California Coastal Commission (1998)
Most recently applied in Kalnel Gardens, LLC v. City of Los Angeles (September 2016)
Added by Stats. 1976, Ch. 1330.
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
Official source: California Legislative Information. Reproduced from public-domain California statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.