To speak at a hearing, fill out a "Request to Speak" form & give it to a staff person. Forms are available near the door to the meeting room. Time limits are indicated on the back of speaker sign-up forms, & under ‘agenda categories’ later in this summary. Generally, the Chair will determine time limits for each speaker. Time limits for permit items are combined total time for all speakers in favor of or in opposition to the project.
Written materials must be submitted to Commission staff no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the hearing (staff will then distribute your materials to the Commission). Note that materials received after this time will not be distributed to the Commission. In the upper right hand corner of the first page of your submittal please identify the agenda item number. Please summarize your position in no more than two or three pages if possible. Please Note: You are discouraged from submitting written materials to the Commission on the day of the hearing, unless they are visual aids. It is difficult for Commissioners to carefully consider late submittals.
The Commission meets once a month in different locations of the State in order to facilitate public participation. Staff attempts, whenever possible, to schedule matters for hearings that will be relatively close to the location of a proposed development. However, legal deadlines for action may require that the hearing on an item take place in a different area than the proposed project.
Faxes will not be accepted at the meeting site. You may be able to make prior arrangements with staff or a Commissioner to send a fax, but you will be responsible for paying the hotel or meeting site for its receipt.
Government Code Section 84308 requires Commissioners to disqualify themselves from voting on any matter if they have received a campaign contribution of more than $250 from an interested party. If you intend to speak on any hearing item, please indicate on your speaker slip &/or in your testimony, if you have made campaign contributions of more than $250 to any Commissioner within the last year, & if so, to which Commissioners you contributed.
Written materials sent to Commissioners must also be sent to staff at the same time. All non-procedural communications must become part of the record. See the summary of these requirements.
At the start of the meeting there will be time for public statements about Commission work other than items that are pending before the Commission. For those unable to attend the early comment period, there will be additional comment time available later in the day. Persons wishing to speak should fill out a sign-up slip, & limit presentations to 3 minutes.
It is not possible to predict how quickly the Commission will complete agenda items or how many will be postponed to a later date. The Commission begins each session at the time listed on the Meeting Notice & considers each item in the sequence listed, except in extraordinary circumstances. The Commission may consider an item even though interested persons are not present.
A written staff report is available for most items on this agenda. At the end of the agenda description the author's initials & a code indicating his/her headquarters office are identified (A=Arcata, SF=San Francisco, SC=Santa Cruz, V=Ventura, LB=Long Beach, SD=San Diego). Staff reports are usually distributed 10 days before the meeting. If you are interested in any item on this Meeting Notice contact the nearest Commission office to get a copy of the staff report. It may also be on the Commission’s web site.
Powerpoint presentations must be accompanied by a USB flash drive, flash memory card, or compact disk. All electronic formats must be PC compatible. Files created on a Mac are not supported. It is recommended that a hard copy of any electronic presentation be submitted in case of technical difficulties. A slide projector & laptop will be available from our audio-visual technician, & they can assist you in its use. All materials exhibited to the Commission during the hearing (slides, maps, etc) are part of the public record & must be kept by the Commission for 60 days after final Commission action on the matter. Your materials will be returned upon written request.
Some public records for agenda items are available for inspection at the meeting, & are available in the Commission office. Please call to make an appointment to see any file you are interested in. If you decide to challenge a final decision of the Commission in Court, please request preparation of the administrative record by letter to the Administrative Records Section at the Commission office in San Francisco, & indicate in your letter a description of the agenda item & date(s) of Commission action.
At any time during the meeting the Commission may meet to consider possible & pending litigation in a session closed to the public pursuant to the attorney-client privilege & statutory exemption to the Open Meeting Act (Government Code § 11126e).
The hearings are wheelchair accessible. If accommodation for other disabilities is required, please call (415) 904-5200.
For more information about this agenda, contact one of the following staff members:
A Telecommunication Device for the Deaf (TDD) is available at (415) 597-5885.
The Coastal Commission is not equipped to receive comments on any official business by electronic mail. Any information relating to official business should be sent to the appropriate Commission office using U.S. Mail or courier service.
