State Parks proposed to add a campground and off-highway vehicle (OHV) staging area at the Oso Flaco Lake day-use area to facilitate access to the existing Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area (SVRA).
Better access points to the OHV area would be through the Railroad Avenue, Silver Spur Place, or Callender Road, locations considered in the Pismo State Beach and SVRA general development plan (1975).
Converting agricultural land for the project violates the Coastal Act, which aims to “conserve agricultural soils and promote long-term agricultural productivity.” Moreover, the narrow road leading to the proposed campground is a recipe for disaster when RVs meet farm equipment. Widening the road would require additional conversion of agricultural land.
Oso Flaco Lake is widely recognized as one of the most scenic natural areas along California’s coast. It currently provides wildlife-dependent recreation such as fishing, wildlife observation and photography, interpretation, and environmental education. A campground/OHV staging area will seriously diminish those recreational opportunities.
“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot”—in this case a campground and OHV staging area. And, as Joni Mitchell continues, “Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”
Petra Clayton
Los Osos
This article appears in Spring Arts Annual 2019.
In all of this discussion please keep in mind that the Pier Ave entrance to the beach in Oceano was supposed to be a temporary one–25 years ago!! This is a casebook example of environmental and social justice where a poor community gets all of the traffic, sand, and pollution of the off road culture; has no safe beach for local families or tourists; and gets very little in return. Oceano–doormat for the dunes.
My comments are not meant to necessarily support the Osos Flaco entrance plan–rather to raise awareness and compassion for Oceano residents who have lived with these impacts for decades.
I don’t know all the impacts, but adding a third entrance to the dunes seems like over-kill and another waste of land and tax-payer money.
If you havent visited there, I suggest you do so before commenting. Take your kids and grandkids.
I predict you will come away appalled at the thought of such a gem of a park being invaded by OHVs. The noise, pollution, crowding will have a profoundly negative impact on the wildlife and environment. I cannot believe the State that supposedly champions the environment would even consider this. Can only assume its about $$$$.