Community group officially buys popular coastal property to keep public access
A community-led nonprofit organization finally owns the Cuesta Inlet in Los Osos — promising to preserve public access to the beloved seaside property.
“We’re very proud to be part of the community that was able to make this happen,” Save Cuesta Inlet volunteer executive director Margarete Schmidt said.
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 privately-owned property was put up for sale in 2022, and a group of locals banded together under the rallying cry of “peace, love and public access” to make a plan to protect the land.
On Dec. 5, the nonprofit organization Save Cuesta Inlet closed escrow on the 13-acre property, purchasing it for its appraised value of $780,000.
Fundraising was a community effort, from kids donating their birthday money to a 100-year-old woman mailing a check to the nonprofit, Schmidt said.
“This was all community raised, from the little lemonade stands all the way up to the people who were fortunate to give more than that,” she said. “It was really a grassroots, 100% community-backed effort.”
What’s next?
The group plans to return in 2026 under a new name: Friends of the Inlet.
Save Cuesta Inlet did offer the property to the county Parks and Recreation Department to operate as a county park, but the nonprofit would have needed to pay the county $200,000 per year for maintenance — which felt unrealistic, Schmidt said.
As a result, the nonprofit will manage the property, similar to the way the Morro Coast Audubon Society owns and manages the Sweet Springs Nature Preserve.
The nonprofit’s Board of Directors will meet early next year and ask the community how they want management decisions to be made. The organization will likely create advisory committees to support the board, she said.
The nonprofit plans to keep the property open to public access and coordinate projects that support the health of the environment.
For example, the volunteers would like to clean up some of the old kayaks and canoes cluttering the shoreline, and remove invasive ice plant growing on the property.
Not much will change at the Inlet; the nonprofit’s goal is to make sure that people can keep kayaking, bird watching, walking their dogs and enjoying the beauty of the coastline.
“It’s a unique property. In all the Central Coast — there’s nothing like it,” Schmidt said. “It's been a place that the community has loved and used for decades.”
This story was originally published December 8, 2025 at 3:11 PM.
