Communities are fully in control how they manage themselves, as long as they do it within the law of the state.

Rancho Palos Verdes should comply with the law, or face the consequences of not being able continue that control of their land management.

A great value of democracy is that a "random activist" can petition the government to enforce the law, that's how we keep the whole thing in check. The idea that random activists could not be a check on illegal behavior of the government is a very, well, authoritarian idea that is not compatible with any of the values embodied in the US or California constitutions, our legal system, or the very character and culture of the US.

Yes, and my point is that continued trend of state and national laws overriding local jurisdiction over things like land use is not a positive one for residents of desirable areas and not something I agree with philosophically, not the litany of things you decided to rail about that have nothing to do with my comment.