Oceano Dunes off-roading group files new lawsuit against Coastal Commission
The off-roading advocacy group Friends of Oceano Dunes has filed another lawsuit against the California Coastal Commission for its March vote to ban off-highway vehicle recreation from most of the park by 2024.
The lawsuit is one of four the group has filed and one of five total against the state agency in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court. Three of those cases were consolidated due to overlapping legal claims, so the Coastal Commission now faces a total of three civil cases, according to court documents.
On March 18, the Coastal Commission unanimously voted to ban OHVs at the Oceano Dunes due to environmental and health concerns.
The vote mandates State Parks prohibit OHVs in the park and only allow car and recreational vehicle camping and street-legal vehicles to access a one-mile stretch of beach between Pier and Grand avenues.
The latest lawsuit by Friends of Oceano Dunes, which was filed on Sept. 24, alleges the Coastal Commission “exceeded the agency’s authority” by adopting a revised staff report that detailed the March action taken by the commissioners, according to the complaint.
“The (Coastal Commission) purported to adopt revised findings on Aug. 12, 2021, that did not reflect accurately the (Coastal Commission’s) stated reasons for its decision on March 18, 2021,” the lawsuit says. “Rather, the (Coastal Commission) attempted to add analysis to address shortfalls in, and lack of, a CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) analysis of the (Coastal Commission’s) proposed amendment of the 1982 permit for Oceano Dunes SVRA.”
The lawsuit goes on to allege that those revised findings “flatly contradicted statements of certain commissioners, such as Commissioner (Mark) Gold” at the March hearing.
In February, Coastal Commission staff brought forward a report that recommended commissioners make certain amendments to the coastal development permit for the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. Among many other things, it suggested commissioners vote to ban off-roading at much of the park by 2026, close the vehicle entrance to the park at Pier Avenue in Oceano immediately and prohibit all night driving in the park.
Commissioners unanimously voted to adopt that staff report, but decided to ban off-roading at much of the park by 2024, close the vehicle entrance to the park at Pier Avenue by July 1, 2022, and only prohibit some night driving at the park.
Because those three aspects of the commission’s vote differed from the staff report’s original recommendations, staff was required to bring forward a “revised findings” report that reflected the modified action taken by the agency. This is required by the California Coastal Act to ensure commission votes are clearly documented.
The hearing on the revised findings report took place on Aug. 12, during which commissioners unanimously adopted the report.
During that hearing, commissioners opened it up to public comment to receive feedback on whether the revised findings report did, indeed, accurately reflect what they decided in March.
Only one individual commented to say that the revised report was accurate. Other commenters expressed their opinions on the commission’s vote to ban off-roading in much of the park. Commission Vice Chair Donne Brownsey cut off some commenters during the August meeting because she said they were out of line and not speaking specifically about whether the revised findings were accurate.
Jim Suty, president of Friends of Oceano Dunes, commented during the August meeting but did not address the staff’s revised findings specifically.
When Louise Warren, the Coastal Commission’s chief counsel, clarified that public comments must be limited solely to whether the public finds errors in the staff’s revised findings, Suty said “I guess I’m perplexed by that, but I will just state that I don’t agree with the report.”
The Friends of Oceano Dunes lawsuit filed Sept. 24 says the revised findings included additional environmental analysis of the commission’s March decision.
It is unclear what additional analysis the lawsuit is referring to.
Coastal Commission spokeswoman Noaki Schwartz noted that the agency does not comment on pending litigation.
Two additional lawsuits against Coastal Commission on Oceano Dunes vote still in court
The two other lawsuits filed against the Coastal Commission are still making their way through the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court.
Friends of Oceano Dunes and EcoLogic Partners allege in one lawsuit — which was originally three separate complaints but was later consolidated into one — that the Coastal Commission violated state environmental laws by ordering State Parks to prohibit off-highway vehicle (OHV) use at the Oceano Dunes by 2024.
Only the county, which was named as a “real party-in-interest” because it owns the nearly 600-acre La Grande Tract property within Oceano Dunes SVRA, has responded to that lawsuit. It generally denied all of the allegations against it, according to court documents.
The second suit, filed by Friends of Oceano Dunes — a nonprofit off-road riding group that advocates for continued OHV access to the dunes — asks for a judge to grant a quiet title for nearly the entire Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. That quiet title lawsuit alleges the area has an “implied-by-law dedication” for OHV use, beach camping and camping and therefore cannot be used for any other purpose.
“Quiet title” lawsuits are usually brought against private landowners and are typically 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.
Attorneys for the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District and State Parks generally denied all of the allegations in the quiet title lawsuit in separate filings received by the court on July 14 and 16, respectively.
Coastal Commission and State of California attorneys filed a demurrer in the case. That means the attorneys may not dispute the facts but argue that there is no valid legal claim.
A hearing is set for Jan. 5 in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court, during which Judge Tana Coates may decide to sustain the demurrer, meaning Friends of Oceano Dunes may be able to revise their case.
If Judge Coates decides to overrule the demurrer, then the case will be allowed to proceed as is.
This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 10:36 AM.
