This polygon shapefile contains areas within Monterey County where appeals can be submitted to the California Coastal Commission (CCC). The California Coastal Act protects California’s coast through state and local government implementation of policies that safeguard state interests in coastal resources, including the provision of maximum public access and recreational opportunities to and along the shoreline.Any locally-approved development project between the first public road and the sea; within 300 feet of a beach, mean high tide or bluff edge; within 100 feet of a wetland or stream; or on tidelands, submerged lands, or public trust lands; is appealable to the Commission. The approval or denial of a major public works project or energy facility, regardless of its location, is also appealable. In counties only, the approval of any project that is not the principal-permitted use under the certified Local Coastal Program (LCP) zoning code is appealable to the Commission. Although state and local interests often coincide, the Coastal Act appeal process is an important mechanism to assure that statewide interests in coastal resources are protected and appropriately balanced with competing local interests.This layer is part of a collection of GIS data for Monterey County in California. This dataset is intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for basic applications such as viewing, querying, and map output production, or to provide a basemap to support graphical overlays and analysis with other spatial data. Monterey County, California. (2015). California Coastal Commission Appeal Areas, Monterey County, California, 2015. Monterey County, Ca. Available at: http://purl.stanford.edu/tq579np4157.