Section of clifftop park in Pismo Beach closed off after crack appears in the ground

Pismo Beach Police closed a cliffside section of Margo Dodd Park on Saturday morning after a large crack was discovered in the ground near where the ocean can be seen below.

Arroyo Grande resident Dan O’Donnell went to the park to take pictures of the sunset around 5:30 p.m. Friday and noticed a crack.

The crack was near the cliff’s edge where a bench overlooks the ocean. The chain on the barrier was tight compared to its loose appearance when he had taken pictures at the location before.

O’Donnell was born and raised in San Luis Obispo County. As a photographer, he often goes along the coast and takes pictures when he can.

“There was a young couple and their child sitting on the bench and I suggested that they may not stay there very long,” O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell called the Pismo Beach Police Department and a dispatcher told him that Public Works would address it.

Saturday morning, O’Donnell went to Avila Beach to capture the sunrise. He then decided to check back on the crack about 9:30 a.m. to see if the bench and surrounding area had been roped off.

The area was not, according to O’Donnell, who said the crack appeared larger than the night before.

He again called police.

“I’ve grown up outdoors,” O’Donnell said. “So I’ve been up in the mountains and I’ve done a lot of different places where I’ve seen the start of landslides. And that’s the same kind of crack you would get before something breaks off, you know, so it’s, it was obvious to me the earth was moving.”

Two police officers came by and roped off the area after talking with O’Donnell and each other.

“They put a caution tape there and they were gonna give it to the Public Works so they could get some barricades or something in there, but that’s pretty much it,” O’Donnell said.

Pismo Beach Police Cpl. Jodi Weimer said that the department was made aware of the crack Saturday morning. They notified Pismo Beach Public Works and the city is “in process of putting up different barricades.”

Weimer hopes that people take the barricades as a “hint” to not go near there.

“We have closed off the area for the safety of the public and we will be evaluating the extent of any erosion,” Pismo Beach public information officer Jorge Garcia wrote in an email to The Tribune. “Our priority is to ensure that the public is safe.”

The Pismo Beach Public Works Department did not respond Saturday to requests for comment because City Hall was closed, public works director Ben Fine said Monday.

This story was originally published January 7, 2023 at 5:31 PM.