THE BUZZ: SPLASHING BACK — California’s powerful Coastal Commission has made one point clear this legislative session: It's ready to aggressively resist efforts from pro-housing groups to bring denser development to the coast. The commission — which has long held a revered status in state politics — was caught off guard last year when state Sen. Scott Wiener and pro-housing groups pushed through unprecedented legislation that limits the commission’s power to block apartment and condo towers in coastal cities that have resisted building more housing. But this legislative session has played out differently — with a PR and lobbying offensive that has forced pro-development lawmakers to scale back bills that would have further eased housing construction along the coast. The coastal agency has hired a second lobbyist for its Sacramento office, brought on a full-time spokesperson and launched a webpage touting its affordable-housing work. It’s a clear response to criticism from vocal pro-housing advocates who say the commission has an anti-growth culture that has worsened the state’s notorious affordability problem. At stake is the commission’s broad powers to decide if and where homes get built near the ocean — and whether California’s coast will become more densely developed in urban areas to alleviate a severe shortage of housing in the state. Sarah Christie, the commission’s legislative director, argues it has been unfairly branded as anti-housing when it actually welcomes housing that is affordable and environmentally conscious. Environmentalists who support the commission argue that curtailing its authority to review housing projects could harm precious coastal resources and lead to more luxury condo and apartment towers, not affordable housing. “If you take the commission's regulatory oversight away, you're not going to get the kind of housing that California needs,” Christie said. This month the lobbyists convinced a key committee in the state Senate to water down three bills designed to ramp up housing construction in urban areas along the coast, including San Francisco, Santa Monica and Los Angeles. State Sen. Catherine Blakespear’s Senate Bill 1077, which would have made it easier to build backyard cottages on existing residential lots near the coast, was gutted. And another Blakespear measure that would have created deadlines for the commission to make decisions about housing appeals was turned into a study bill. Blakespear, the former mayor of coastal Encinitas, said the commission's opposition was so powerful that other lawmakers wouldn’t support her original legislation. The debate seemed driven by a slippery-slope argument, she said, rather than the policy details — the fear that easing development hurdles could lead to a coast resembling Miami’s, with soaring glass condo towers. “They fear a boogeyman that I don’t think is real,” she told Playbook. “We’re not talking about places that are sensitive coastal resources. We’re talking about places that are already urbanized.” But the fight in the Legislature isn’t entirely over. Another piece of legislation, Assembly Bill 2560 by David Alvarez, a San Diego-area Democrat, is still moving. It would allow developers with projects in the coastal zone to tap into the state’s “density bonus” law, which would allow them to build more units if some are designated low-rent. Louis Mirante, vice president of public policy at the Bay Area Council, a pro-business advocacy group, has helped lead the effort to curtail the commission’s authority. It arguably hasn’t faced such a challenge since voters approved the Coastal Act of 1972, a ballot initiative that established the commission’s charge to preserve public access to the coast. “They haven’t been scrutinized in this way in at least the last 30 years,” Mirante said. — with help from Camille von Kaenel GOOD MORNING. Happy Monday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. Now you can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts now. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced.
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