State Parks wants to transform this Central Coast treasure into a tourist destination. No way
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Revisioning the Oceano Dunes
The SLO Tribune Editorial Board examines competing proposals for the Oceano Dunes state park, from a total ban on off-highway vehicles to a major expansion of camping and recreation areas.
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Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part series of editorials on major changes proposed at the Oceano Dunes, which includes the state’s most visited off-road recreation area.
Let’s cut straight to the chase: Further development of Oso Flaco Lake, located in southernmost San Luis Obispo County, would amount to a crime against nature.
Of all the proposals in State Parks’ comprehensive Public Works Plan for the Oceano Dunes, this may be the single most contentious — aside from a counter-proposal to ban off-road vehicles from the entire park.
Locals love Oso Flaco, and they’re rallying to save it from over-development, just like they did 40-odd years ago when it was proposed as an entrance to the Oceano Dunes riding area.
“We took the director of State Parks on a tour through the area and presented the first annual Day of the Dunes program, which extolled the virtues of saving the natural resources of the area from further off-road vehicle destruction. By 1980, the SVRA (State Vehicular Recreation Area) shelved its plans,” South County resident Michael Bondello recalled in a letter to the editor.
If the area was declared off-limits to more development 40 years ago, why is the state looking at it again — albeit primarily for “non-motorized recreational opportunities”?
We aren’t just talking about paving the parking lot and installing new restrooms and entrance kiosk — we don’t have a problem with that.
It’s what State Parks refers to as its Future Project that’s an outrage. It would add 200 RV campsites, 100 drive-in campsites and 20 cabins, among other tourist-serving facilities.
It would forever change Oso Flaco from the peaceful place where people go to hear themselves think (though they can sometimes also pick up the roar of ATVs in the background).
It’s the kind of spot where you can go an hour without seeing another soul — or you might pull into the parking lot and find a dozen cars already there.
Visitors come to bird-watch, hike, fish, enjoy a family picnic, go for an easy stroll along the boardwalk leading down to the beach.
And it isn’t just a recreational treasure.
Oso Flaco is home to rare and endangered species; much of the area is designated as environmentally sensitive habitat area, which means activities that result in “significant disruption” are banned.
On top of that, it’s adjacent to prime farmland.
And this is where State Parks wants to build a tourist center with hundreds of campsites campsites, cabins, a loading zone for buses, a convenience store and a “campfire center”?
Organized opposition
Is it any wonder that organizations from the local chapter of the Sierra Club to the League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County are opposed?
The League says it would “completely change the character of the Oso Flaco Lake area.”
The Sierra Club — along with several other local environmental organizations — went on record opposing the project several months ago: “Our organizations recognize the ecosystems of Oceano Dunes and our ocean, waves and beaches as valuable resources. These resources should not be exploited for the financial gain of recreational activities that degrade the natural environment.”
The community of Guadalupe — which, as the closest city to Oso Flaco, has the most to gain financially from an influx of tourists — is against the project. The City Council voted last week to send a letter of opposition.
Not even the state Off-Highway Vehicle Commission, an advisory body that’s highly supportive of off-roading, could drum up more than tempered enthusiasm for the Oso Flaco proposal.
“The proposed initial and future development plan will certainly benefit many visitors to the Central Coast, but does not provide any new benefits to OHV users,” the commission wrote in a letter to State Parks.
(The plan does “potentially” allow for creation of an OHV access road that would link to the riding area — an addition the OHV commission supports.)
If off-roaders are only lukewarm to the project and would rather see priority placed on other issues, such as expanding the riding area, why do it?
Aren’t there less environmentally sensitive areas for campgrounds?
On top of that, getting the project approved is a long shot at best, so why waste time and money exploring a proposal that has little chance of making it past the Coastal Commission?
A ban on off-roading?
The Coastal Commission staff, in fact, recommends reducing pressure on the dunes by eliminating off-roading throughout the park within five years. The staff report refers to OHV activity in the dunes as “one of the most disruptive activities that could be pursued.”
The commission will consider staff’s recommendations when it meets Thursday.
Banning off-roading has been considered before; Coastal Commission staff made that same recommendation in 2019.
Instead, the commission voted 8-2 to give State Parks time to come back with a plan to improve operations and reduce the harmful effects on the dunes environment and surrounding communities.
State Parks had already been talking about reconfiguring the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
Officials saw it as a way to ease conflicts between the popular park — the only SVRA on the California Coast — and locals who object that they aren’t able to enjoy their beach for fear of being run down by all the vehicles.
Also, OHV activity at the Dunes has been linked to unhealthy levels of particulate pollution, putting the health of downwind residents and workers at risk.
Meanwhile, off-roaders have been lobbying heavily for more riding areas and fewer constraints.
We sympathize with local State Parks staff.
They’re in the unenviable position of trying to manage an off-road park in an environmentally sensitive area that never would be approved for OHV use today.
But the solution isn’t to pave over another environmentally fragile area for campgrounds and cabins and concessions. That won’t solve problems at the SVRA — and it would most likely create new headaches for State Parks.
There are many big decisions to be made about the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area.
Development of Oso Flaco should be an easy call for the state Coastal Commission.
Just vote no.
Tuesday: Can’t afford your own ATV? You could be shut out of the Oceano Dunes SVRA.
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 6:00 AM.