A California state appellate court sided with four-by-four enthusiasts Monday in a ruling against
the Coastal Commission’s ban on off-roading at Oceano Dunes, saying the agency exceeded its
authority by unilaterally amending a permit that authorized such activity decades ago.

Writing the three-judge panel opinion issued by California’s Second Appellate District, Judge
Hernaldo J. Baltodano affirmed the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court’s decision that the
Commission didn’t have the authority to ban off-road use at Oceano Dunes State Vehicular
Recreation Area via an amendment to the coastal development permit and closing one of the
state park’s entrances. 

The judge said the trial court was correct in concluding that off-road use could not be limited,
saying “such use was consistent with the local coastal program (LCP) approved by “San Luis
Obispo County.” 

“Here, we conclude the Commission did not have the authority to phase out OHV use by
unilaterally amending the Oceano Dunes CDP because the LCP permits such use,” the court
said in its ruling. “The LCP states that one of its goals is to ‘maximize public recreational
opportunities’ including OHV use at Oceano Dunes.” 

Jim Suty, president of Friends of Oceano Dunes nonprofit, which brought a petition to SLO
Superior Court challenging the Commission, declined to comment on the ruling and instead
referred to a press release issued Monday that stated his group’s “victory ensures continued
OHV recreation at Oceano Dunes.”

In 2019, the Commission concluded that off-roading at Oceano Dunes wasn’t appropriate and
said that vehicle operations were at a point where they weren’t “consistent” with state and local
regulations, citing long-term environmental protections, according to the opinion, which added
that Commission staff recommended that the state park transition away from off-road use.

In 2021, the Commission voted to close the state park to off-road vehicles. The SLO Superior
Court ruled in 2023 that the agency not only didn’t have the authority to ban OHV use via the
CDP amendment, but that it also violated the California Environmental Quality Control Act by
failing to evaluate whether closing an entrance would increase vehicle miles traveled.

“The ruling affirms the San Luis Obispo County Superior Court’s July 19, 2023 ruling which
addressed four lawsuits – three brought by Friends of Oceano Dunes and one by Ecologic
Partners,” Friends’ press release stated. “As Friends wrote in its brief: ‘This case addresses the
limits of the CCC’s authority when it crams down an amendment to a 42-year-old [permit] to ban
OHV recreation, contrary to the governing LCP that expressly authorizes OHV riding in barren
sand [Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Area (ESHA)].'”

The appellate court noted that the county’s LCP specifies where off-roading is allowed and
where it’s prohibited, and includes maps that separate these areas. Protecting “significant
coastal resources” is mitigated through controlled access points, the court added.

Additionally, the court said that the LCP’s chapter on recreation noted that off-road use is “the
dominant recreational element” at Oceano Dunes and “will continue.”

The appellate court’s opinion, however, affirmed the lower court’s ruling on “procedural grounds”
against the Commission.

Judge Baltodano said the panel’s conclusion “is simply that banning OHV use at Oceano Dunes
may not be done via a CDP amendment that contradicts the governing LCP” and didn’t issue
any opinion on the “cultural, scientific or policy rationales supporting or opposing an OHV ban.”

 
A spokesman for the Commission on Wednesday declined to comment on the court’s opinion
and told the Santa Maira Times that they are evaluating the ruling.