Preserving access: One group aims to keep the Cuesta Inlet accessible to everyone with future land purchase

Locals around San Luis Obispo County have enjoyed the privately owned Cuesta Inlet for decades. But the prospect of new owners stepping in launched an effort to take the inlet into the public’s hands.

Jack Franklin of Franklin Real Estate and Rentals in Morro Bay is managing the sale of the inlet for the current owners. He told New Times that his own children grew up exploring the inlet when they lived in Los Osos in the 1970s.

“They found the inlet on their own, which is just east of the golf course, and said, ‘Oh, dad, we need a kayak,'” he said with a laugh. “We enjoyed it. Then the owners, you know, I’ve done business with the parents over the last 53 years.”

According to Franklin, the owners—a group of five “very private” people scattered around California—inherited the inlet from their parents: the Ogle, Morris, and Kleinhammr families.

The families acquired the 13-acre property in the 1950s. Over the next decades, they allowed the public to enjoy inlet waters and the surrounding land for bird watching, kayaking, boat launching, and dog walking, among other activities.

In 2022, the inlet’s present five owners were ready to sell—sparking fear among locals that potential buyers would block public access.

Franklin listed the property on websites like Redfin and Zillow for $1 million. The offers rolled in, but there was a snag.

“I must have had 200 inquiries for the property who were happy to pay the million dollars if they could get a permit to use it for something,” he said. “But they would go to the county Planning Department and the [California] Coastal Commission, and then they would lose interest in the property.”

County Planning and Building Division Manager Eric Hughes said that the inlet’s property owners recently applied for certificates of compliance to legalize the lot. Resting on a Coastal Commission decision with support from the county, any proposed future development would occur only after the certificates are processed. The projects must also comply with the California Coastal Act and the local coastal program.

Franklin alleged that the county devalued the property by refusing to grant permits. He told New Times that he encountered a buyer who wanted to purchase the property just so that he could park his 42-foot sailboat on the inlet.

“There are already 500 boats parked there, but he went to the county and said, ‘I want to get a permit to do this, make it legal,'” Franklin said. “They said, no, they weren’t issuing any permits, period. … They just will not allow anybody to use it privately. So, the best use for it is for the public. So, why fight it?”

The public is poised to be the new owner of the inlet, thanks to a community-led effort by a local nonprofit called Save Cuesta Inlet. Created in 2022 to counter the sale of the inlet, the group comprises almost 30 members who are all Los Osos residents.

Save Cuesta Inlet’s secretary-treasurer Margarete Schmidt told New Times that they paid $25,000 (raised through donations) for a special appraisal of the property once it was put up for sale. Cuesta Inlet was first appraised in April 2022 and finally in December 2024, when it was valued at $735,000.

The owners and Franklin agreed to the appraised amount as the purchase price. Starting June 2, Save Cuesta Inlet has six months to raise the full amount plus related costs. As of June 23, the group had raised $318,000, Schmidt said.

“The property’s highest and best use is as a park,” she added. “There’s minimal development potential.”

The group now looks to the larger community to help raise the rest of the escrow amount to purchase the inlet and secure public access to the inlet. Donations can be made at savecuestainlet.org.

What happens if Save Cuesta Inlet can’t raise $735,000 by December? Nothing much, except coughing up a $20,000 extension fee, according to Franklin.

“Trust me, there’s no other buyer,” he said. “If they haven’t raised the capital in six months, they’re prepared to pay for an option to extend the escrow for another six months. If they still couldn’t raise the capital, I’m pretty sure that the sellers would allow them another six months if they paid another fee.”

Keeping Cuesta Inlet within the public’s reach is important. According to sailing enthusiast and longtime Los Osos resident Paul Irving, public access is its most unique characteristic.

“I almost don’t know anywhere else where, for free, you can just keep your boat by the water on somebody’s property,” he said. “Anywhere else, if you want to keep your boat somewhere, it’s going to have a permit process.”

Irving also serves on the board of nonprofit Celebrate Los Osos, which is tasked with keeping the inlet clean of derelict boats.

Numerous boats and kayaks bob on inlet waters, often becoming the reason for overcrowding. Eventually, some of them start to rot owing to their owners forgetting about them. Rotting boats pose safety hazards once they fall apart and litter the water with sharp pieces of debris.

“Our job is to identify that people actually do have their boats labeled and they have their phone number on it,” Irving said. “We’ll ask people to remove them if we can find out who the boats belong to that aren’t being used.”

Beyond recreation, Cuesta Inlet is teeming with wildlife. Los Osos Valley Nursery owner Hope Merkle has been observing it for 55 years—from rowing a boat around the bay and catching leopard sharks as a little girl to teaching her children and grandchildren how to spot shark eggs.

With a keen eye for flora, Merkle’s spotted ice plants, silver lupine, coyote bush, pampas grass, seablite, and much more over her lifetime.

“What does grow are strong varieties of those plants because of the conditions of the salty air and the brackish water,” she said. “I think if somebody came down and tried to rip out all the plants, I think it would be a huge mistake because of what is growing there and how it does serve the birds.”

Merkle supports Save Cuesta Inlet’s mission, donating money occasionally and allowing the group to fundraise during nursery events. She’s never seen another place quite like the inlet.

“I think it’s great for mental health,” Merkle said. “It’s great to have a place where you can go that’s quiet, serene, just an outdoor nature place. We are blessed on the coast for that.” Δ

Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in Jun 26 – Jul 6, 2025.