Is Oceano Dunes SVRA legally dedicated for off-roading? New lawsuit argues it should be
A fourth lawsuit has been filed in response to the California Coastal Commission’s decision to ban off-roading at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area by 2024.
The lawsuit is the third filed by the nonprofit organization Friends of Oceano Dunes, which represents more than 20,000 off-road enthusiasts who enjoy driving on the dunes on the coast of San Luis Obispo County.
The lawsuit was filed against California State Parks, the County of San Luis Obispo and the California Department of General Services — all of which are the primary landowners of the Oceano Dunes SVRA — as well as the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District and its hearing board, and the California Coastal Commission.
Unlike the three before it, this lawsuit does not allege that the Coastal Commission or State Parks exceeded their authority by banning off-highway vehicles, or OHVs, at the Oceano Dunes.
Rather, the lawsuit filed May 11 says that the Oceano Dunes has an “implied-by-law dedication” for OHV use, beach driving and camping, and therefore cannot be used for any other purpose.
Because the Coastal Commission’s March 18 vote to ban OHV use in most areas of the park would prevent such implied uses, the lawsuit asks the judge to nullify the vote and return all of the Oceano Dunes lands to its implied use.
If granted, this would mean all of the lands within the Oceano Dunes SVRA would be open to OHV use — even land set aside for court-mandated dust mitigation efforts.
Lawsuit alleges that OHV use is legally ‘implied’ at Oceano Dunes
“Quiet title” lawsuits of this kind are usually brought against private landowners. They are usually used to “quiet” a dispute over who owns the land.
In this case, Friends of Oceano Dunes in its lawsuit doesn’t dispute who owns the land, just that the owners allegedly are improperly using the land by banning OHVs and camping in some areas of the park.
The group says in its lawsuit that State Parks, San Luis Obispo County and the California Department of General Services — the landowners of the park — hold the title for the land and therefore are subject to a quiet title lawsuit.
According to the lawsuit, “an implied-by-law dedication is established when ‘the public has used the land for a period of more than five years with full knowledge of the owner, without asking or receiving permission to do so and without objection. ‘ “
“Here, the public used the property in question ... for OHV recreation, beach driving and camping, for a period of more than five years with full knowledge of the private owner, without asking or receiving permission to do so and without the owner’s objection,” the lawsuit says.
This alludes to the several decades before the off-roading park was owned by State Parks in which thousands of visitors would come to Oceano Dunes to drive and camp on the beach.
“No meaningful or significant efforts were employed by the private property owners to halt the on-going use, and no permission to use the property was expressly granted by those private property owners,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit does not clarify who those private property owners were before the county, State Parks and the Department of General Services owned the land, or how long OHVs were on the land before the public entities owned the land.
Friends of Oceano Dunes won a request to disqualify Judge Ginger Garret from the case. Garret was originally assigned to the case, but the nonprofit said in a court filing that she “is or may be prejudiced against Petitioner Friends, its attorneys, and/or their respective interests.”
The case will be handled by Judge Tana Coates and is set for a case management conference on Sept. 13 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
Three other lawsuits filed against State Parks, Coastal Commission
The most recent lawsuit filed regarding the Coastal Commission’s decision to ban OHVs at the Oceano Dunes is very different from the three filed before it.
The first, filed on April 12 by Friends of Oceano Dunes, alleges that the Coastal Commission violated state environmental law by ordering State Parks to phase out off-highway vehicle use at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area by 2024, according to a lawsuit filed against both agencies.
State Parks also violated the California Environmental Quality Act, the lawsuit alleges, because it was mandated to comply with the Coastal Commission’s ban of OHV use without proper environmental review.
A second lawsuit filed in the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court against the Coastal Commission and State Parks alleges similar CEQA violations as the first lawsuit, but also says commissioners violated the California Coastal Act by banning OHV uses in the Oceano Dunes SVRA.
The lawsuit was filed on April 19 by the nonprofit corporation EcoLogic Partners, a consortium comprised of the American Sand Association, the American Motorcyclists Association District 37 and the Off-Road Business Association.
And the third alleges that the Coastal Commission’s vote “exceeded its authority” under the California Coastal Act and the statutes and policies that govern State Parks, such as the Off Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Act.
In addition, the lawsuit alleges that the Coastal Commission “has no legal authority to unilaterally amend an existing, vested and valid permit when the permittee State Parks did not request the amendment,” that the decision violates the coastal development permit for the Oceano Dunes, and that the elimination of the majority of the state park to vehicle access impedes coastal access for disabled people.
The Coastal Commission, State Parks and all other entities included in the lawsuits are state agencies, meaning any costs associated with battling these lawsuits will come from taxpayer dollars.
This story was originally published May 14, 2021 at 10:00 AM.
