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Constitutional Law Keyed to Paulsen
Nollan v. California Coastal Commission
Citation:
483 U.S. 825 (1987)
ProfessorTodd Berman
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
The Nollans owned a beachfront lot in Ventura County, California, located between two public beach areas. They leased the property with an option to buy, conditioned on demolishing the existing 504-square-foot bungalow and replacing it. To obtain the required coastal development permit, they applied to the California Coastal Commission in February 1982, proposing to build a three-bedroom house consistent with the neighborhood. The Commission granted the permit subject to the condition that the Nollans record a deed restriction granting the public an easement to pass across their property between the seawall and the mean high-tide line. The Commission justified this requirement by finding that the new house would increase blockage of ocean views, create a psychological barrier to beach access, and increase private use of the shorefront, thereby cumulatively burdening public access to the beach.
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