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February 26, 2013
After decades of informal public use, the nudist beach at Pirates Cove section of Avila Beach is now a legal part of San Luis Obispo County’s park system.
Background: In November, 2008, we reported that the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors were considering buying 67 acres of private land along Avila Beach, 32 acres of which included the nude beach at Pirate’s Cove. Unfortunately the county could not afford to buy the entire area so they settled on just the bluffs above the beach. Now, almost five years later, the county has the funds to purchase the balance of the property. Some locals nudists emailed us that they were nervous about losing their 3,100-foot stretch of beach area but Supervisors made it clear at the 2/25 hearing that they support its continued use by nudists.
The hearing made clear, however, that improvement to the surrounding cliff paths and parking areas must be done for public safety and liability reasons.
The bottom of the stairs on the main trail from the west side parking lot above is constantly being degraded by waves, sand, and mud erosion and corrosion. A second access trail on the east (Pismo Beach) side known as the “Rope Trail” is far more precarious and there is discussion that it may just be closed, leaving beachgoers with only one way to and from the beach. This could leave people on the beach trapped on days with a very high tide.
Second, the county wants to pave and stripe the dirt parking lot above the beach where everyone now parks, and also install safety rails along the edges to prevent cars from accidentally going off the cliff. This will reduce the number of cars allowed to just 35. This compares to what happens now, when up to 80 cars have been known to squeeze together on a typical summer day. This means more cars will have to park along the narrow 2-lane road that runs up the hill to the parking lot, a road really too narrow to support two-way traffic AND parks cars. Some beachgoers may have to walk more than a mile up the hill to reach the trail head before descending to the beach. It will also potentially impact trash pickup and road erosion of the paving and shoulders. The county also intends to install restrooms at the trail head, and build a new trail connecting Pirates Cove to Shell Beach.
These trail and parking improvements will be paid for by a series of grants from three state agencies. After the initial $1.4 million upgrade is complete in a few years, it is estimated the park will cost $42,500 a year to maintain. But first, all improvements must be approved by the California Coastal Commission, a process that could take 18 months to two years. So nothing will change for nudists, for the trail, or for parking in the meantime.
Lastly, the county is concerned about continued vandalism and graffiti on the rocks, trees and on the trail itself. Everyone agrees all parties need to do a better job here.
The group in the middle of all this is the
Whales Cave Conservancy.
They recently re-instated the WCC non-profit 501c3 status so the county would have a formal group to negotiate with (instead of a gaggle of disorganized volunteers). One of the things they are considering is to establish a group of Beach Ambassador volunteers, similar to what is used at Haulover and Black’s Beaches, to patrol the area to discourage any potential misbehavior or graffiti. This would be better than having Park Rangers do the patrols.