Oceano Dunes reopens to vehicles: Riders ‘ecstatic,’ while others are ‘disappointed’
A steady stream of trucks and Jeeps, many with high-flying American flags, drove onto the Oceano Dunes on Friday morning for the first time since March.
For many, the first phase of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area reopening felt like “freedom” after months of closure due to coronavirus and a threatened bird species nesting in the area.
Others, however, said they felt State Parks was risking the health of the community during the pandemic.
The reopening of the dunes to vehicles also sparked a lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity against State Parks for allegedly violating the Endangered Species Act by putting threatened western snowy plovers at risk.
The Oceano Dunes SVRA will reopen in three phases, starting with day-use access for street vehicles Friday, according to State Parks. The park will be open for up to 1,000 vehicles from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.
Dave Kraus — the owner of Yo, Banana Boy!, a concession shop that sells American, “Save our Dunes,” and red-line and blue-line flags, along with other souvenirs — said he was overjoyed that the vehicle park is open again.
“I am ecstatic. Ecstatic,” Kraus said.
“On March 15, we had to close down, and we’re finally able to start working again. We had to lay off employees. We’ve lost employees that aren’t going to come back, so the beach reopening is a big deal,” he added.
Kraus began setting up his shop at 5 a.m. Friday to be ready for eager dune riders who were allowed onto the beach at 7 a.m.
Kraus said he has been in business for 17 years and feels that the dunes are a family-fun environment that all can share.
“The beach is for everybody,” Kraus said. “We don’t try to stop people from walking their dogs on the beach.”
One family of four at the dunes said riding was a daily activity before the coronavirus shutdown.
“We’d finish dinner then drive out here for sunset,” said one father who identified himself as Bob Hurly after initially saying his name was Joe Bob. “It’s such a nice experience. Where else could you do that? It’s something that we love to do.”
He said being able to ride once more is freeing. He added that he feels dune riders are often vilified, though both local and out-of-town visitors frequently shop at local stores in Oceano.
Some Oceano residents, however, said they would prefer safety over tourism.
A group of about 50 people gathered on the beach Thursday evening in protest of the dunes reopening. A much smaller gathering of protesters was present early Friday morning.
April Dury, an Oceano native who grew up riding on the dunes, said she fears that vehicles on the beach during the pandemic will encourage people from out of town to stay in the area, potentially spreading coronavirus. She said she feels the Public Health Department wasn’t looking out for residents’ safety.
“The Oceano residents deserve better,” Dury said. “I just really don’t know who’s looking out for us, for our safety and our health in a worldwide pandemic by allowing thousands more people into the only large outdoor space we have.”
She also said vehicles limit the area people can walk safely on the beach.
“Oceano lacks any real sort of outdoor parks or venues or areas for social distancing and exercising during a pandemic,” Dury said. “(The beach) was our front porch, and now we’re giving away our health and safety to tourism.”
Charles Varni, another Oceano resident, said he has been working to limit the number of vehicles on the beach for 40 years and was relieved when the park was closed over the summer. Varni said he was “disappointed and scared” of the reopening.
“Thousands of people have now experienced the dunes without vehicles on it, they realize more personally what the impact of vehicles are and that this is a really precious habitat,” Varni said.
This story was originally published October 30, 2020 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Oceano Dunes reopens to vehicles: Riders ‘ecstatic,’ while others are ‘disappointed’."
