Can you camp on private property in SLO County? Labor Day campout sparks controversy
North Coast residents now know a lot more about camping on private property in San Luis Obispo County.
According to a report given to the North Coast Advisory Council on Sept. 16 by Schani Siong, senior county planner, putting a recreational vehicle, camper, van or tent on privately owned property and then staying in it, even overnight, requires a permit. And putting up to 10 of them on the same parcel launches even more requirements.
The trigger for Siong’s report was concern expressed by more than 30 people, including North Coast residents, about a campout that happened over Labor Day weekend on privately owned Cambria Pines Road property near Highway 1.
Matt Janssen, then the division manager of San Luis Obispo County’s Planning Department and head of the Code Enforcement division, said Sept. 9 that the county had no active permit for that activity, or even a permit application, on file for that property. (Janssen has since retired from the department.)
However, the next day, Janssen said he’d talked by phone with Phillip Larson, the property’s new owner, who is now aware of the need to have a permit if any camping is to happen on the land in the future.
Larson, a carpenter and builder from San Clemente, told Janssen that the Labor Day campers were “a bunch of his friends” gathering there at sort of an “after-purchase party,” and the event was a “one-time thing.”
Larson also told Janssen that, in the future, he may file for a land use coastal development permit that would allow him to have camping on the property.
Getting a discretionary permit for camping in Cambria or elsewhere in the county requires various levels of review, each of which allows public input.
Siong told The Cambrian earlier that countywide “use permits are granted based on, and not limited to, factors such as: Location (is it an allowed use?); intensity (number of users, designated areas, hours…); and compatibility with neighborhoods and the natural environment.”
For instance, she said, “Are there any restrictions in the neighborhood or potential impacts to sensitive environmental resources?”
In any situation, even with “incidental camping” of friends and family, a permit is required and various sanitation, health, safety and fire prevention measures would have to be in place.
SLO County camping rules
Siong sad she often receives queries about camping on private property.
She told NCAC members during the council’s Sept. 16 Zoom meeting that any camping on developed private property requires a permit, even for a one-night stay.
“Absolutely no camping is allowed” on a vacant parcel of land, Siong said. “You can enjoy using your property during the day, but must leave overnight.”
NCAC member Henry Krzciak asked, “So even to camp overnight on your own property is a violation?”
When Siong said yes, Krzciak said, “That’s offensive … but understandable.”
Most of the county’s code enforcement cases are launched after someone lodges a complaint about a situation. The department has five staff members for the entire county, Siong said, “and about 50% of their workload now is related to COVID-19 issues.”
Her half-hour report to NCAC focused on county permit regulations for so-called “incidental” camping, rather than the county and state permits required for “organizational” camping at church camps, recreation vehicle and mobile home parks and other spots that can have up to 12 units per acre.
Incidental camping, often on rural and agricultural lands, Siong said, requires a discretionary permit from the county and can have a maximum of 10 camping sites, no matter how big the property is.
The second-most asked question about camping that Siong fields regularly is “I own a house and an RV. Can I park it on my property?”
That also has a clear-cut answer, she said. “The county’s accessory storage section allows parking” recreational vehicles on land that has a “primary residential use,” she explained. but the RV cannot be used for living space or overnight stays.
However, the third most-asked question about youngsters pitching a tent to share with friends is a tougher one to answer, she said.
There are no county codes or regulations for overnight “personal tent camping in the back yard,” Siong explained, but there are strong safety and legal recommendations— such as having a responsible adult nearby, keeping a readily available source of water, enforcing fire prevention rules and keeping noise levels down so nearby neighbors aren’t annoyed.
Labor Day campout in Cambria
The property that Larson bought from the Walter H. Leimert Company runs along both sides of Cambria Pines Road near Highway 1, on the northwestern edge of the heavily forested rural town.
People who lodged questions, complaints or comments with various agencies about the campout most often cited their concerns about fire danger in the tall dry grass and weeds and along cleared driving paths that had been topped with hay.
They also asked if the camping was allowed, if the owner had a permit for the activity and if campers had paid to stay there.
Siong wasn’t able to answer questions about Larson’s campout or location, or other sites that have apparently are advertising or have advertised on www.hipcamp.com and which do not have permits for that activity.
County code enforcement has already launched separate actions against Larson’s event and unpermitted camping at another Cambria site.
