BIG CREEK LUMBER CO. v. COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ
Filed 6/29/06
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA
BIG CREEK LUMBER CO. et al., )
)
v. )
COUNTY OF SANTA CRUZ et al., )
) Santa Cruz County Super. Ct.
Defendants and Appellants. ) Nos. CV134816 & CV137992
__________________________________ )
We must decide whether two county zoning ordinances relating to the permissible locations for timber operations are preempted by state forestry statutes. Concluding they are not, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
Background
In 1999, the Board of Supervisors of the County of Santa Cruz (County) adopted several ordinances that would have affected timber harvesting operations in the County. As pertinent here, County's ordinances restricted timber harvesting to specified zone districts within the County (Santa Cruz County Res. No. 493-99 & Santa Cruz County Ord. No. 4577 (1999); hereafter the zone district ordinance), barred timber harvesting operations in certain areas adjacent to streams and residences (Santa Cruz County Ord. No. 4571 (1999); hereafter the stream ordinance), and limited the parcels on which helicopter operations associated with such harvesting could occur (Santa Cruz County Ord. No. 4572 (1999); hereafter the helicopter ordinance). County also requested and obtained from the California Coastal Commission a ruling certifying the zone district ordinance as an amendment to County's local coastal program.
Plaintiffs Big Creek Lumber Co. and Homer T. McCrary (jointly Big Creek) and the Central Coast Forest Association, a nonprofit association of landowners and forestry professionals in the County, filed a petition for writ of mandate against County and the California Coastal Commission, challenging County's timber-related ordinances and the Commission's certification of the zone district ordinance as a local coastal program amendment. Plaintiffs' petition alleged that County's and the California Coastal Commission's actions violated the California Environmental Quality Act (Pub. Resources Code, § 21000 et seq.) and County's ordinances violated the doctrine of preemption.
The preemption claim was bifurcated and heard separately. The trial court found in favor of plaintiffs except as to the zone district ordinance. On appeal, the Court of Appeal invalidated County's ordinances in their entirety. We granted County's petition for review of the Court of Appeal's invalidation of the helicopter and zone district ordinances.[1]
Discussion
The zone district ordinance amends County's zoning laws to restrict timber harvesting operations to areas zoned for timber production, mineral extraction industrial, or parks, recreation and open space. The helicopter ordinance requires that helicopter staging, loading, and servicing facilities associated with timber operations be located either on a parcel of land zoned for timber harvesting or on a parcel adjacent to such, and within the boundaries of a timber harvesting plan that has been approved by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Plaintiffs argue that the ordinances are preempted by the Z'berg-Nejedly Forest Practice Act of 1973 (FPA) (Pub. Resources Code, § 4511 et seq.)[2] and the California Timberland Productivity Act of 1982 (TPA) (Gov. Code, § 51100 et seq.). For the following reasons, we conclude that County's ordinances are not preempted.
A. Overview: State Forestry Law
1. The Forest Practice Act
â€
