SLO County nonprofit wants to preserve bay-front property — but it needs money
A spunky, black Labrador seemed to smile as he leapt into Estero Bay on Thursday — chasing after a rock thrown by his guardian, Margarete Schmidt.
He looked rather pleased with himself as he trotted out of the bay, shaking saltwater from his coat just in time to accept a few pats on the head from Schmidt.
For decades, Los Osos residents have flocked to the Cuesta Inlet to walk their dogs, kayak, bird watch and enjoy the fresh air on the southeast end of the Morro Bay Estuary.
The 13-acre property is privately owned, and the nonprofit organization Save Cuesta Inlet is racing to raise money to buy it so it can preserve public access to the land, said Schmidt, who serves as the organization’s secretary.
“Everybody wants this to be public,” she said. “We literally have people that came here as a child that are now bringing their children here.”
On June 2, Save Cuesta Inlet entered into escrow with the property owners to buy the land — and the nonprofit has until Nov. 29 to raise the $735,000 needed to buy the property.
“It’s up to the community,” Schmidt said. “I think we’re going to do it, because community loves this place.”
A long road to escrow
In 2022, the land owners put the property up for sale for $1 million, Schmidt said.
Soon after, a handful of community members formed Save Cuesta Inlet to raise money to buy the property.
Because Save Cuesta Inlet is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, it can’t purchase the property for more than its appraised value, which at the time was $720,000, Schmidt said.
When the nonprofit offered to buy the land, the owners refused — maintaining that they wanted to sell it for $1 million.
“We were at a stalemate, essentially,” she said.
At the end of 2024, a private buyer offered to purchase the property for $900,000, Schmidt said.
“We thought, ‘Oh lord,’” she said. “We didn’t know what we were going to do — we weren’t going to give up.”
Eventually, the buyer backed out when they realized development would be an “uphill battle” with the California Coastal Commission, Schmidt said.
After that, Save Cuesta Inlet commissioned an updated appraisal of the property — which came to $735,000.
Finally, on June 2, the landowners agreed to sell the property to Save Cuesta Inlet for the appraised value — starting a six-month escrow.
“We’re very excited,” Schmidt said.
On June 2, the nonprofit had between $100,000 and $140,000 in the bank — and they were ready to launch a fundraising campaign to garner the rest of the funds by Nov. 29, Schmidt said.
As of Thursday, it had raised about $330,000 — with about $405,000 to go, Schmidt said.
Save Cuesta Inlet doesn’t plan to host any more large, community fundraisers because they have so little time to raise the money. Instead, Schmidt invited community members to host small fundraising events at their homes — and the nonprofit can send a representative to those events to speak about the merits of the property.
People can donate by check, GoFundMe, Venmo or PayPal. Check out the nonprofit’s website for more donation information at savecuestainlet.org/donate.
What’s next?
The community is still figuring out who will manage the property once it’s purchased.
The Los Osos Community Services District could take on the responsibility, or the nonprofit could form a community board to make management decisions.
The nonprofit doesn’t want to pass the property to State Parks, because it wouldn’t allow dogs to access the area, Schmidt said.
No matter who manages the property, Save Cuesta Inlet wants to keep the land open to the public — and even host community events there, like last year’s Christmas boat parade, she said.
