Lawsuits aim to overturn ban on off-roading at Oceano Dunes, the birthplace of the dune buggy

Sand rail at Oceanos Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area. Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/sandrafoyt/15325115579/"> Sandra Foyt.</a>

After more than a year of threatening to do so, the California Coastal Commission voted last month to end off-highway vehicle use altogether at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area, the only California park that still allows motor vehicles on the state's beaches and the place where the late Bruce Meyers got the inspiration for his first dune buggy. In response, the agency now faces multiple lawsuits claiming it overstepped its authority and demanding the decision be reversed.

"The Commission's decision was unjustified since State Parks has undertaken a three-year public process to develop a long-range management plan," said Chris Kersting, president and CEO of the Specialty Equipment Market Association, which filed the lawsuit in California State Superior Court for San Luis Obispo County. "It renders meaningless the State Parks' ongoing effort to adopt a plan consistent with the Coastal Act that will include OHV access to this unique resource."

While off-roading on the 15,000 acres of sand and dunes on California's Central Coast once known as Pismo Beach dates back to the Thirties, the state didn't establish Oceano Dunes SVRA until 1982, when it set aside much of the dunes for wildlife preserves and left about 1,500 acres for off-roading. Of those 1,500 acres, another 132 acres have since been set aside for vegetation rehabilitation while another 300 acres have been declared off-limits from March through September to protect populations of snowy plovers, a species of bird listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

However, as development has encroached closer to the dunes, area residents started to complain of excessive dust and airborne particulate matter from the dunes, pointing to the operation of motor vehicles on the sand as a cause – not of the dust directly, but of the deterioration of a natural crust on the sand that permitted vegetation to grow on the dunes and prevent the dust via a process called saltation.

In response, the San Luis Obispo County Air Pollution Control District called for a plan that would reduce the total land available for OHVs to 1,000 acres. Then in 2019, the California Coastal Commission first proposed fencing off all but 700 acres before telling the California Department of Parks and Recreation that "It is time to start thinking about ways to transition the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area away from OHV use," and directing the parks department to "phase out OHV use altogether." In March, the CCC commissioners then voted to shorten their own timeline for eliminating OHV use at Oceano from five years to three years. According to the CCC, OHV use at Oceano is inconsistent with California's Coastal Act of 1976 in regards to protecting sensitive habitats.

The California Department of Parks and Recreation, which oversees the SVRAs, had been working on a Public Works Plan for Oceano Dunes that would mitigate the dust concerns and released a draft of that plan last year. However, in statements surrounding its vote to bar OHVs from Oceano, CCC commissioners expressed dissatisfaction that the parks department did not follow the CCC's guidance regarding the phase-out of OHVs at Oceano. "So it no longer makes sense to defer to State Parks without the Commission taking action under the CDP renewal process," Kevin Kahn, the CCC's Central Coast District Supervisor, said.

Supporters of OHV use at Oceano, largely led by the Friends of Oceano Dunes, had already filed multiple lawsuits against the CCC throughout the process and added another one last week, claiming that CCC does not have authority over the parks department and that the CCC made alterations to the Public Works Plan without proper public hearings. According to Jim Suty, the president of Friends of Oceano Dunes, the economic impact of off-roaders to the area around the park amounts to $15 million per year.

SEMA's lawsuit, which asks the court to vacate the CCC's March vote, also argues that the CCC "does not have substantive evidence to support the closure and has failed to conduct an environmental impact review required under the California Environmental Quality Act or consider alternatives." SEMA, which filed its suit with the Off-Road Business Association, the American Sand Association, and the American Motorcyclist Association's District 37, also noted in its press release that OHV recreation contributes to the local economy.

After closing down due to COVID concerns last year, Oceano Dunes SVRA began to re-open under a three-phase plan last October and entered phase two of that plan in February. For more information about the SVRA, visit OHV.Parks.CA.gov.

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