Can State Parks close 130 acres of Oceano Dunes to off-road riding? Here’s what judge ruled
New dust mitigation measures can be installed at the Oceano Dunes following a San Luis Obispo Superior Court judge’s ruling overturning a protest by an off-roading advocacy group.
Superior Court Judge Tana Coates made the ruling on Monday.
She found that “there is a substantial risk of harm to (California) State Parks, the communities surrounding the Oceano Dunes and the public as a whole” should the 130 acres of dust mitigation measures not be installed, according to court documents.
There is generally no access of any kind permitted inside dust mitigation areas, including off-road riding and other vehicle traffic.
Friends of Oceano Dunes, an off-road riding advocacy group, filed a lawsuit in January challenging the California Coastal Commission’s December approval of the new dust mitigation acreage at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
The lawsuit alleges that the Coastal Commission “abused its discretion” and did not have the authority to allow State Parks to install the dust mitigation measures it proposed at the popular park in southern San Luis Obispo County.
Friends of Oceano Dunes filed for a preliminary injunction in its January case against the additional dust mitigation acreage — meaning it wanted the judge to prohibit the 130 acres of new measures to be installed while the court case is ongoing.
Coates issued a temporary restraining order on Feb. 17 blocking the installation of those new dust mitigation measures until a hearing could be held on the justification of adding the acreage.
After the hearing, which took place on April 6, Coates issued her ruling denying Friends of Oceano Dunes’ preliminary injunction and therefore lifting the temporary restraining order.
“The health impacts from breathing in particulate matter are significant and irreversible,” Coates wrote in her ruling on Monday. “The adverse environmental consequences of poor air quality fall predominantly on the downwind communities of Oceano, Nipomo, Santa Maria and Guadalupe. Protection of the health of the public is a strong interest, and State Parks and the (San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District) have shown that preventing timely implementation of that dust control will negatively impact public health.”
Coates noted that this harm to the public health outweighs the potential harm to off-highway vehicle users given the shrinking of the riding area due to the installation of the new dust control measures.
Did Coastal Commission have authority to allow new dust mitigations?
Coates noted that her Monday ruling does not mean she has made a final decision on Friends of Oceano Dunes’ allegations that the Coastal Commission was outside of its authority in approving the dust control measures in December.
She writes in her ruling that San Luis Obispo County, which owns some property of the Oceano Dunes where dust mitigation measures are set to be installed, only granted consent for the Coastal Commission to take charge of approving dust mitigation measures there if such measures are to comply with Rule 1001.
That rule requires State Parks to find a way to reduce dust emissions from the dunes when an air quality monitor on the Nipomo Mesa downwind of the riding area measures particulate matter levels that are 20% higher than an air quality monitor that is not downwind of the riding area.
State Parks and the Air Pollution Control District allege in court documents that, now, the enforcement mechanism for reducing dust pollution from the dunes is the 2019 stipulated order of abatement, not Rule 1001. The stipulated order of abatement requires State Parks to cut dust emissions at the dunes by 50% by 2023.
“The consent granted by the county was for a consolidated permit process to implement dust measures specifically to comply with Rule 1001,” Coates writes in her ruling. “If the dust control measures which State Parks seeks to implement ... are not sought to comply with Rule 1001, they are outside of that consent.”
Coates further found that Friends of Oceano Dunes “has shown a reasonable possibility of prevailing on this ground.”
Friends of Oceano Dunes president Jim Suty said his group is “disappointed with the ruling” and will appeal it.
State Parks rushes to install fencing before deadline
In the meantime, because the preliminary injunction was denied and the temporary restraining order lifted, State Parks has until Friday to install all the proposed vegetation projects at the dunes, according to deadlines set in its 2021 annual report and work plan.
Due to the temporary restraining order, State Parks already missed the March 31 deadline to install fencing around the new projects.
The deadlines correspond with the bird nesting and the windy seasons.
“California State Parks remains committed to complying with the Stipulated Order of Abatement, protecting the natural and cultural resources found in Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area for future generations, and ensuring that all Californians have equal access to the park and its diverse recreational opportunities,” wrote Jorge Moreno, a spokesman for State Parks, in an email to The Tribune. “State Parks is working to install all dust mitigation projects as expeditiously as possible following the lifting of the TRO (temporary restraining order).”
If State Parks cannot install the dust mitigation measures before Friday, it must wait until the fall to do so, according to a declaration filed in court by Jon O’Brien, the environmental program manager of the Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Division at State Parks.
“This would put State Parks behind schedule for completing the requirements of the (stipulated order of abatement) by up to one year,” O’Brien wrote in his declaration, filed on March 17. “It would require State Parks double the dust control projects scheduled for next year, which would be a tremendous strain on State Parks’ staff and resources.”
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 2:23 PM.
