Last March 18, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to close Pier Avenue in Oceano to vehicle beach access on July 1, 2022, to stop crossings at Arroyo Grande Creek and driving at night and on the wet sand.
Last month, a backroom secret agreement was made to undo those conditions and maintain the status quo.
State Parks and Friends of Oceano Dunes joined arms to force the Coastal Commission into the agreement. Shame on State Parks for joining the very group that sued it and has been suing it at every turn. State Parks had the opportunity to join forces with the Coastal Commission, its own sister agency, to eradicate once and for all this cancer eating up our natural resources. The Coastal Commission gave State Parks a year for transitioning into the new coastal permit. Instead, State Parks is working with its suer to keep the status quo. Wickedness and greed for money is their power.
The Coastal Act is the power of the Coastal Commission. Unfortunately, its members don’t seem to have the will nor the courage to enforce it. They have no sense of justice either, no integrity, but disrespect for transparency and democracy. The agreement the Coastal Commission made with State Parks and Friends of Oceano Dunes betrays the thousands of people who supported staff recommendations and believed in what they saw and heard: a unanimous vote for change.
We request that the California Coastal Commission explain in a press release why that vote has been overruled and how it was even legally possible to do so.
Lucia Casalinuovo
president, Oceano Beach Community Association
This article appears in Jan 6-16, 2022.
Lucia is going to *really* hate yesterday’s news. 🙂
Indeed the Coastal Commission does owe us an explanation. They need to explain to us why, after the Scripps study disproved the claimed dust hazard of vehicular use, they still want to shut down the dunes.
Thankful that State Parks sided with Friends of Oceano Dunes. The dunes offer such a unique place and being able to drive out onto the beach and set up for the day is fantastic. Gives us all a chance to feel like we live right on the sand.
The Dunes is a fragile ecosystem , one that must be void of cars and off road vehicles forever . ⁹The fight is not over as far as keeping off road vehicles off the beach. Citizens wanting a vehicle free beach will prevail.