The other evening my wife, Gayle, and I meandered down the Oceano beach south of Pier Avenue. We’ve done that many times in the four months since vehicles were excommunicated from the sand there. So have many others.
This is what we experienced:
• Children building moats, castles, and other wondrous structures in the damp sand.
• Families lolling under beach umbrellas, reading, talking, listening to portable radios, just soaking up the atmosphere. Occasionally they would run to the ocean and swim, or swing their giggling younger kids, shrieking with joy, in the air above the water.
• Young men and women playing volleyball and Nerf football, laughing, flirting.
• Fishermen casting into the Pacific. Paragliders. Kite flyers.
• Joggers, and people of all ages walking their dogs; the dogs, of course, loving it.
• The clean, fresh smell of the sea.
• The waves lapping softly against the sand.
• Most of all, we observed the ethereal beauty of the place, a transcendent breathtaking splendor that surely ranks it among the world’s most sublime spots, a seascape by Monet.
All of that goes away if the motor vehicles come back.
Instead we will be subjected to the old, familiar, malevolent bugaboos: gasoline fumes, loud, off-road and other vehicles careening down the beach, children and others scattering to keep from becoming roadkill.
Sooner rather than later, all the people I described above—people who also own that state beach because their taxes pay for it—will go away.
And the gang of despoilers that for decades has taken sole possession of our little paradise will have it all to themselves once more, while the rest of us pound sand.
I didn’t think I’d ever say anything good about COVID-19, but give credit where it’s due. By giving “We the People” back our beach, it showed us what a spectacular place we have and underscored what we’ve been missing since the gasoline crowd hijacked it.
The off-roaders should be welcomed back when the quarantine is lifted, as should we all. But they should leave their destructive, motorized toys at home.
State Parks will tell you that you can do all the things I’ve described while the ATVs roam. That is unadulterated horse pucky.
Only one group of people possess that stretch of beach, and they have held on to it for a long, long time. It’s time for the rest of us to take it back.
It won’t be easy. They’ve clutched it tightly in their oil-stained paws for decades. How? Through a combination of political power at the state and local level; a lack of accountability at their outlaw mentality and behavior; intimidation of opponents; and the careful cultivation of a myth.
That myth says that the off-roaders are one big happy family, who come back year after year, across the generations, to have good wholesome fun at the beach. It’s Mom and Pop and Junior and Sis, with Spot and Fluffy thrown in for good measure.
For a long time, I bought into that yarn. I didn’t like the motor vehicle crowd taking sole possession of the dunes. But my attitude was called elitist, and I had to agree: I love the pristine purity of such a place. I have been in the Sahara and love to go to Kelso Dunes down in the desert.
I thought I might be just an updated version of that old “get off my lawn” geezer: “Get off my beach!”
There might be some truth in the “happy families” cover story. Still, over time, I came to realize that that 1950s Ward and June Cleaver camper persona buries a few things: Dozens of deaths on the dunes, thousands of injuries. Trash, alcohol. ATVs kicking up sand to choke people who live nearby and mowing down shorebirds.
It’s time for a change.
Three groups want the off-roaders gone.
• People on the Nipomo Mesa and other points downwind choking from sand kicked up by off-roaders.
• Environmentalists who care about the snowy plover and, well, the environment.
• Doctors, nurses, and others who have seen, firsthand, lives lost and families destroyed by dune riders who get careless.
Each of these groups has flailed at the off-road lobby, with limited success. I would like to see them join forces and present a coordinated, compelling case to the California Coastal Commission and State Parks board.
It might take a private investigator and/or computer wizard to do that. But there must be a miles-long paper trail. Consider all the agencies that are called to the dunes. Ambulances, police, fire, trash collectors, city and county and state bureaucracies. Each of them has records.
And what of the families of those who died and were hurt. Dozens of deaths, thousands of injuries. It beggars belief that none of these people has filed legal actions. How many have, and what has it cost us?
Even if those who want to return the beach and dunes to all of us succeed at that task, they will still face one major hurdle: money.
Many people argue that closing the dunes to off-roaders would be too big a financial hit for the county. But that’s just a failure of imagination. With vision, the beach could attract a different species of tourist. It could become a Yosemite-like attraction for people from around this the world. It’s that spectacular.
That last point underscores that this is not just an attack on the motor vehicles that have despoiled the magnificent spot. It is an argument that we could do better.
Given the political stranglehold the off-road lobby has on local and state governments, this will be an uphill battle. I hope those locals who agree on the larger goal of keeping the beach and dunes free of vehicles will work together to mount an argument that caries weight. I hope visionaries—the county has plenty of them—will begin to think about what could be at this extraordinary place, rather than what is.
Meanwhile, I suggest that local folks—socially distancing—enjoy this exquisite gift in our backyard. We don’t know how long we’ll have until it turns back into a pumpkin. Δ
Robert C. Cuddy writes The Cuddy Edge from South County. Send a response for publication to letters@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 6, 2020.
We are coming together! The Dunes Alliance was formed in 2019. 11 environmental organizations and we welcome more to join us. The Oceano Beach Community Association has been actively working to keep the Oceano Beach vehicle free and finally close the Pier Ave gate that was designated as “temporary” in 1982. Join us. People for the Dunes!
Mr Cuddy’s piece accurately portrays the transformation of our local beach here in Oceano now that the vehicles are gone. He can be faulted for ignoring the community of Oceano when he refers to local impacts, focusing as he does on the white, upper class Trilogy golf community downwind from the SVRA environmental destruction zone. We deserve to have a beach free of vehicles, just like Pismo and Grover do. Then we can develop a beach oriented, environmental tourism economy that is sustainable and livable for all. Time to stop the Central Valley and LA Basin off-roaders flying their Confederate flags from tearing up our beach and community. Our community gets no benefit from their activity and the economic impact studies are highly biased and structured to produce the results State Parks wants. If you want a vehicle free beach you have to organize and work for it. Get politically involved. Get rid of Lynn Compton as Supervisor in 2022. Go to this website http://OceanoBeach.org to get more information.
Typical why do you feel like you should be the only ones on the beach wander down to Avila and open the beach
Thank you Mr. Cuddy! We echo your experience & observations. It is so nice to have safe, quiet, and clean access to that beautiful stretch of beach. Watching the birds, and humans frolic in what otherwise be a life-threatening Highway of ORV’s has been a treat.
Oceano is the only beach from the Oregon border to the Mexican border where vehicle are permitted. It is in close proximity to miles of other beaches where the perfect cand find perfection.
Are those opposed to beach camping and riding unable to walk or drive to the pristine beach they prefer?
I doubt it. They simply want their world controlled to their liking. To heck with anyone with other ideas of perfection.
As to the homes on the Mesa. Doesn’t the state of California require disadvantages like wind be revealed to buyers so they can decide if having sand dust is a reason not to buy? I lived in Venice [Los Angeles County] as a child. We had sand [and tar] in our yard and house and on our feet as well as oil derricks. All that is gone along with any place to park or walk to access the beaches [Venice and Santa Monica].
We should be grateful for what we have rather than trying to drive out those with other ideas of recreation.
Money and greed is what keeps the OSRVA open so a handful of businesses can profit. Any beach in California will have visitors recreating there. We don’t need cars on ANY beaches. We need places to get away from cars and breath some fresh air. We need to preserve what we have of nature as we have already despoiled most of it. Beaches for people not vehicles.
Thank you, Bob Cuddy, for your timely, even urgent message to take back our beach and dunes. Right on! Our group, Safe Beach Now, tried to document this struggle over the years. The effort is preserved in a library, and in dozens of 30 minute documentaries that can be viewed at http://www.safebeachanddunes.org. Some years ago, a member of the off-roader group that tries to crush the Coastal Commission with lawsuits stole our name. He exerted copyright violation and had our documentaries taken down. It took a federal judge to get them put back up.
An apology to Mr Cuddy for not also expressing more appreciation for all the excellent analysis, documentation, and suggested actions his editorial presents. Because I live in Oceano it is important to me that people also recognize the direct negative impacts the SVRA has the health and character of our town as well and not just the good people of Trilogy who bear the brunt of toxic dust emissions from the SVRA riding area. Unified, diverse, consistent pressure on all levels of government as well as electing politicians who share our values is how we will succeed.
Thanks to Robert Cuddy’s Commentary “Take it Back” we also walked along the Oceano Beach south of Pier Avenue. What a treasure! I hope that this area will continue to be preserved for everyone’s enjoyment. I am hopeful that as visitors flock to the beaches they will pick up a picnic, stop for a meal (I saw a large outdoor seating area at Old Juan’s Cantina and I will be back) and pick up a six pack or a case of refreshment from the local businesses. This area can be a “Yosemite-like attraction for people from around the world, and I hope we can assure local business owners that they can survive until it is.
I hope Mr.Cuddy will become politically involved if he is not already. Showing up to Stae Parks and Coastal Commission meetings is important as is participating in the public comment process.
Also supporting local organizations fighting the SVRA, like the Dunes Alliance and Oceano Beach Community Association are important.
The so-called “Friends of Oceana Dunes” are doing their best to keep the dunes as an oil and gas frenzied mad max wannabe dystopia. Funded by business interests that benefit from trashing the area, they spend a lot of time organizing and sharing info via their Facebook page. I recommend that you visit the page and check out the management of the organization. Note that they do not live near the dunes (San Jose, Fresno, etc), nor do they likely pee in their own bathtub.
Keep an eye on the “Friends of Oceana Dunes” Facebook page to learn about upcoming opportunities to support closing the beach and dunes to vehicles, as in the following example from their site:
The California Coastal Commission is holding their next round of meetings Sept 9-11. This will once again be a virtual meeting. Please sign up to speak for public comment on non-agenda items since Oceano will not be on the agenda. Last month people only had 1 1/2 minutes to speak but they can allow up to two minutes depending on the number of speakers. You can choose which day to speak. Sign up here:
https://coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2020/9