Even though plaintiffs promptly challenged conditions the Coastal Commission imposed on a permit allowing plaintiffs to rebuild a weather-damaged seawall protecting their homes, first by objecting to the conditions before the Commission and then by petitioning for a writ of administrative mandate, this decision holds that plaintiffs waived their challenge to the permit condition by proceeding to rebuild the seawall while the mandate proceeding was pending. A party that accepts the benefits of a permit by building or using the property in the manner the permit allows waives any objection to the burdens the permit imposes, including any permit conditions. If the property owner needs to take protective measures while the permit challenge is pending, he must seek an emergency permit to make temporary repairs.
California Supreme Court (Corrigan, J.); July 6, 2017; 2017 WL 2871762