Pirate’s Cove is getting a makeover soon, and it’s one that some community members say is long overdue.
At a meeting on March 16, the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to integrate Cave Landing into the county park system, allowing the county to enforce regulations and protections there that are followed at other local park facilities. The board also voted to put nearly $499,000 in public facility fees, $129,358 in general fund revenue, and a $250,000 California Coastal Conservancy grant toward various efforts to clean up the trails and parking areas at Cave Landing and Pirate’s Cove.
“We need to support the traditional use of our beaches,” 3rd District Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said at the March 16 meeting. “We’ve seen more and more people out there, especially during COVID, and this is a very important location for many reasons, not only just the beauty of it, and the recreation of it but also, as was mentioned, the cultural resources and the biological resources. So this is well-spent money.”
The Cave Landing area has been fraught with problems for years now, since the county acquired the land and planned for park development there between 2008 and 2014. According to a county staff report, Pirate’s Cove, Cave Landing, and those who frequent the area are often the source of complaints to law enforcement and public officials. It lacks trash bins and bathroom facilities, the parking lot is unpaved and difficult to maneuver, and insufficient enforcement in the area and 24-hour access mandated by the California Coastal Commission has made it a popular spot for late-night fires and overnight camping.
Recently, county staff say that a homeless encampment was erected in the area, and graffiti, trash, human waste, and discarded drug paraphilia now litter the parking lot and trails.
Using recently approved funding, the county hopes to collect trash at Cave Landing and install trash bins, level and pave the parking lot, clean up existing graffiti, and hire a park ranger to maintain the site.
“It’s taking staffing and a lot of other county resources in managing that encampment out there,” Otiz-Legg said. “So what seems to be taken away with trying to properly manage this special place actually is taking resources from public safety, taking resources from the homeless coalitions, and all of the other social services that we have offered at the county. So in so many ways, now shifting over with this plan will actually be saving our resources as we just focus on the park aspect of that.” Ī
This article appears in Mar 18-28, 2021.
UNTIL the overnight issue is resolved, i.e. NO camping allowed, this scenic spot will be a blight and ENDLESS money pit for the county. Congrats to SLO county for making such an egregious political decision that will ultimately not solve the problem.
I used to camp there 44 years ago, park my little datsun camper down on the right side, it really hasn,t changed at all except the numbers of people, back then the pirates made people take there trash home with them,, I would also take my boat from Avila harbor and camp in that, catch halibut and bbq it on the beach, play volleyball and hang out with a lot of really cool people, the people behind the promotion agenda, all have money houses and giant gas hog cars, the homeless pretty much live like the native Americans did, they police there own and where else are they to go, i,ll tell you, if I knew maybe into your house, especially if it is big and white, they have shown the capability to do this!
I say let them be people and survive, this public land except from 10pm to 6AM is a bunch of crap every where, the pursuit of life liberty and happiness out the window, we are in a global crisis take down some restrictions, and let all people have a chance to survive!
I had my RV at Pirate’s Cove summer 2020, it was the best summer ever. Great people that really care about each other.
Yes, there is a lot of drinking and drugs, and fighting, I even got in a few to defend others.
The people that live there extendedly are trying to make it nice, we really want it to be a nice place and hate that it gets trashed by day users. The graffiti being referred to is art. Maybe bad art, but the attempt was art.
We’ve also set up a memorial for people that have committed suicide. The people there are great souls that will do anything to help someone struggling with suicidal tendencies.
Not everyone living there is unemployed. Many have full time jobs, others part time jobs. Food trucks, construction, massage, and other artists; many people are on Disability. Many can’t afford the over priced rent locally without being forced into multiple jobs.
Many are here to enjoy the beach, and maintain sanity in chaotic times.
There were some individuals last summer causing problems requiring law enforcement officers, but those people are no longer around. Everyone wants peace and pleasantness, and fun, too.
It’s a place of freedom and responsibility (striving for), a prime example of Dream of American Freedom in practice.