Last March 18, the California Coastal Commission voted unanimously to close Pier Avenue in Oceano to vehicle beach access on July 1, 2022, to stop crossings at Arroyo Grande Creek and driving at night and on the wet sand.

Last month, a backroom secret agreement was made to undo those conditions and maintain the status quo.

State Parks and Friends of Oceano Dunes joined arms to force the Coastal Commission into the agreement. Shame on State Parks for joining the very group that sued it and has been suing it at every turn. State Parks had the opportunity to join forces with the Coastal Commission, its own sister agency, to eradicate once and for all this cancer eating up our natural resources. The Coastal Commission gave State Parks a year for transitioning into the new coastal permit. Instead, State Parks is working with its suer to keep the status quo. Wickedness and greed for money is their power.

The Coastal Act is the power of the Coastal Commission. Unfortunately, its members don't seem to have the will nor the courage to enforce it. They have no sense of justice either, no integrity, but disrespect for transparency and democracy. The agreement the Coastal Commission made with State Parks and Friends of Oceano Dunes betrays the thousands of people who supported staff recommendations and believed in what they saw and heard: a unanimous vote for change.

We request that the California Coastal Commission explain in a press release why that vote has been overruled and how it was even legally possible to do so.

Lucia Casalinuovo

president, Oceano Beach Community Association