On Monday, a judge refused to allow several opposition groups to join the legal fight to preserve Oceano Dunes vehicle use.
The motion was inadmissible. One of the lawsuits against the March 2021 California Coastal Commissions decision to ban all vehicle use in Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Rec Area within three years.
Six environmental and community groups, the Northern Chumash Tribal Council (Center for Biological Diversity), Oceano Beach Community Association (Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Oceano Beach Community Association), San Luis Obispo Coastkeeper, and Center for Biological Diversity requested to intervene in the case on behalf of Coastal Commission.
Superior Court Judge Tana Coates rejected the motion.
Coates wrote in her ruling that the court found that allowing applicants the right to intervene would not promote fairness.
Coates wrote that there is no evidence that (Coastal Commission) isn’t vigorously defending its decision or that it is considering a scaled back amendment that is at odds with applicants’ interests.
The ruling basically means that the Coastal Commission will have to fight the Friends of Oceano Dunes and EcoLogic Partners Inc., as well as the Specialty Equipment Market Association, the off-roading advocacy organizations that filed the lawsuit without the six other groups.
Originaly, five lawsuits were filed against the Coastal Commission by off-roading groups. They were all related to the March 2021 decision of the agency. Due to overlapping legal claims, four of them were consolidated in one lawsuit.
According to court documents, another lawsuit remains in San Luis Obispo Superior Court. The trial is set for March 13, 2023.
What Oceano Dunes off-roaders said in their lawsuit
The first lawsuit alleged that the Coastal Commission acted beyond its authority and did no proper environmental analysis when amending Oceano Dunes SVRA’s coastal development permit. This amendment would have prohibited most off-highway vehicles (OHVs), from the park by 2023. The environmental and community groups filed a motion for intervention to defend the permit amendment by the Coastal Commission.
The underlying issue of this litigation is the California Coastal Commissions Protection of Oceano Dunes & Phase-out of OHV Use. This is a vital matter implicating species conservation, environmental and tribal justice. It affects applicants who live, work and recreate in the area at stake. It would be unjust to give petitioners the only forum on the underlying issue and deny applicants the right to be heard on their protected rights.
In their motion to intervene, the environmental and community groups argued that they should be allowed join the lawsuit against off-roading groups. They have certain legal interests in dunes that could be impacted depending upon whether or not the court overrules/supports the permit amendment by the Coastal Commissions.
Judge Coates agreed that the groups had a direct interest to protect and restore the dunes and eliminate OHV recreation at them, and that disposition of this case would hinder or impair their ability to protect their interests.
However, she pointed out that the lawsuit is not about the protection or the dunes. It is about the authority of Coastal Commissions to approve the amended permit for parks, which is something that environmental and community groups are not experts in.
Coates found that the Coastal Commission is adequately representing the interests of the community and environmental groups.
It is disappointing that Oceano Dunes conservation advocates for public health, tribal justice, and conservation were not allowed intervene in the offroaders baseless lawsuits to the Coastal Commission, Jeff Miller (senior conservation advocate for The Center for Biological Diversity) wrote in an emailed statement to The Tribune. We will continue to fight to protect endangered species and wildlife habitats and support the Coastal Commission’s decision to eliminate destructive off-road vehicle usage at Oceano Dunes.
Friends of Oceano Dunes published a press release on Monday celebrating the ruling of Coates.
The release stated that Jim Suty, the president of the organization, said that friends will continue to pursue legal remedies to protect beach driving and camping at Oceano Dunes.
Mackenzie Shuman writes mainly about Cal Poly, SLO County education, and the environment for The Tribune. She hails from Monument, Colorado and graduated in May 2020 from Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication. Mackenzie can be found running, climbing, and hiking outside when she’s not writing.