3 LOCAL CANDIDATES VYING FOR COASTAL COMMISSION SEAT.

Byline: David Greenberg Daily News Staff Writer

Three Ventura County lawmakers are among 12 nominees in three counties hoping for an appointment by Gov. Pete Wilson next month to help safeguard the state's 1,100 miles of coastline.

As of Tuesday, Ventura County Supervisor Judy Mikels, Port Hueneme City Council member Toni Young and Ventura City Councilman Brian Brennan had been nominated to fill the South Central Coast District seat of the state Coastal Commission vacated by Tim Staffel.

Staffel resigned from the commission following his appointment last month as a judge.

Ventura County's candidates are competing with nominees from Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.

Mikels, who in June was re-elected for a second term as supervisor in District 4, was unavailable for comment.

Young, a six-year council veteran and former real estate agent, said she understands the need for a balance between serving the needs of businesses, tourists and environmentalists.

``I understand how development can work, should work, needs to work and I certainly understand the need to have access to the beach,'' she said.

Living in a seaside community, Young said she has seen the damage storms have wrought on the Hueneme Pier and believes that protective measures need to be in place.

She claims the commission often places costly restrictions on people who merely want to renovate their beachfront homes while letting new developments breeze through the application process.

Brennan said what he lacks in government experience he more than makes up for in business experience and environmental activism.

Besides his seven months on the Ventura City Council, he served on the county Planning Commission from 1995-97 and is a former chairman and current member of the Surfrider Foundation coastal advocacy group.

He gathered signatures for a ballot initiative that in 1972 formed the Coastal Zone Act - the outgrowth of which was the formation of the commission.

``The idea was to slow down and take a look at the coastline and to decide what we were going to continue to develop and what we were going to keep as open space,'' Brennan said.

He was also the vice president of tourism for the Ventura Chamber of Commerce from 1994-97, the chairman of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau from 1994-96 and was general manager for Chart House restaurants in San Diego, Florida, Hawaii and the Virgin Islands from 1977-97.

Brennan said he wants a commission seat because the group has immersed itself in politics - too often focusing on either the pro-growth or anti-growth factions and never finding a balance.

The 12-member commission regulates development along the coast and as far as five miles inland when wetlands are involved, and works with local governments to ensure their plans and zoning ordinances conform with the policies of the California Coastal Act.

``When you control the real estate along 1,100 miles of coastline, it's very important,'' said Richard Jenkins, spokesman for the commission.

It holds four days of public hearings throughout the month, sifting through agendas that are up to 100 items long.