In the midst of a so-called housing crisis, California lawmakers are looking to incentivize new housing, with a handful of bills introduced in 2024 that call for bypassing decades-old coastal protections.
In 1972, California voters passed the Coastal Conservation Initiative, also known as Prop. 20, which established the California Coastal Commission to regulate developments near the state’s coastline. The commission was codified in 1976 when the Legislature passed the Coastal Act, which made the commission a permanent agency and gave it “broad authority” in its regulations, according to the agency’s website.
