Group launches Oceano vehicle free beach campaign

February 14, 2026

Opinion by Surfrider Foundation, San Luis Obispo

Surfrider Foundation’s San Luis Obispo chapter announced this week the launch of the Oceano vehicle free beach (OVFB) campaign to create a 2.2 mile stretch of vehicle-free beachfront for the community of Oceano.

The campaign’s initial goal is to convince the SLO County Board of Supervisors, California Coastal Commission and State Parks to come together and propose a solution to the problem created more than four decades ago.

In 1982, as part of approving a Coastal Development Permit for the Oceano Dunes State Vehicle Recreation Area (SVRA), the California Coastal Commission designated Grand Avenue in Grover Beach and Pier Avenue in Oceano as temporary access ways to the beach, creating a roadway to the SVRA.

According to Charles Varni, SLO Surfrider chair and Oceano resident, the consequences of these decisions have had major negative impacts on the Oceano community, the two most significant being economic repression and environmental health threats.

“More than 44 years ago a decision was made to temporarily sacrifice the health and safety of the Oceano Beach community so that motor vehicles could access the SVRA,” Varni said. Officials promised that within three years, a new southern entrance to the SVRA would be created and Oceano could have a vehicle-free beach and dunes. We are saying it is time to keep that promise.”

The OVFB campaign has set a deadline of 2030 for the various agencies to have a project and funding in place.

The current status of off road recreation on the dunes and beach of Oceano and the SVRA is unclear. A recent decision in federal court concluded that the vehicle caused deaths of the endangered Snowy Plovers are illegal and violate the Endangered Species Act.

Earlier state court decisions ruled that the Coastal Commission did not have authority to phase out vehicles on the beach and dunes as long as the county’s local coastal plan allows such activity.

The local coastal plan is developed and managed under the authority of the Board of Supervisors on behalf of SLO County residents.

Supporters of the OVFB campaign argue that it will be the key to economic revitalization of the community and that when the local beach is free of vehicles they will be replaced with thousands of visitors seeking lodging, food, and recreation in the town and local communities.

Increased local jobs and property values will benefit the community. The local beach, dunes and Arroyo Grande Creek lagoon environments will become naturally restored and safe for currently threatened flora and fauna.

In 2020, when Oceano’s beach and dunes were closed to vehicles for many months, locals and tourists were able to experience what a vehicle-free beach was like.

New dunes quickly established themselves. Flocks of endangered California Least Terns roosted on the Pier Avenue entrance ramp. Hundreds of people who had stayed away from Oceano Beach because they did not want to compete with vehicles or endanger their families came and enjoyed it for the first time.

In that year, Oceano generated the most tourist taxes for the county in its history.