The California Coastal Act of 1976 protects our shoreline and guarantees beach access for all. Off-roaders are using the Coastal Act’s intent to justify their destructive activity on Oceano Beach and dunes. They broadcast misleading messages of “access for all” and “keep the dunes open” as if “access for all” means access to vehicles, and as if we and the Coastal Commission want to close the park to all public access.
We do not want to close the park to public access. That is a lie. The Coastal Act guarantees access for all people, not their vehicles. There is no access for all on a beach where vehicles drive as on a highway because vehicles and pedestrians are not compatible. We learn as a 5-year-old not to “play in the street.” Yet, the OHV and day use beach drivers allow and encourage their children to do so, and our legislators are telling the rest of us we have to do it too.
Those who don’t want to recreate in traffic are excluded, especially residents of Oceano, a disadvantaged community of which State Parks is taking advantage of by denying it the economic and recreational benefits of a safe beachfront. A beachfront is a beach community’s most precious resource, and yet Oceano is denied one. We don’t have a Pismo Preserve, nor a Nipomo Regional Park, nor a Bob Jones Trail. Oceano has the beach and yet cannot enjoy it safely.
Lucia Casalinuovo, president
Oceano Beach Community Association
This article appears in Jan 21-28, 2021.