The California Coastal Commission approved a renovation plan for Oceano airport which will cost us more than $4 million.
This decision underestimates the environmental injustice the presence of the airport does to Oceano. Dedicating 60 acres of prime coastal wetlands to a limited-use, recreational airport does a great injustice to Oceano, which is starved of general recreational opportunities available to all, not just the rich. Does repairing the airport’s parking lot and hangars benefit our community? The airport’s administration thinks us idiots to be appeased by a handful of “fun” days, one of which, last Christmas, cost $160,000 to bring in dozens of plastic Christmas trees and a pile of snow for the kids. That money could have taken all the Oceano kids to the snow for the entire day!
The airport’s administration said plainly and shamelessly that the Oceano airport is and will continue to function as a limited-use, recreational aviation facility. The emergency and community benefits arguments are mystifications to cover this truth. Stated so openly and freely, it sounds almost immoral that money should be spent on repairing and improving a super elite recreational facility while Oceano residents don’t have a safe beach, a bicycle/pedestrian-safe route to the beach, or a beach parking lot.
This plan should have been denied while demanding an independent land use study to discover what would really be the best way to use those 60 acres to the benefit of the Oceano community and the environment.
Lucia Casalinuovo
Oceano
This article appears in August 27 – September 3, 2026.
