Photos:
New gates close the beach from dusk to dawn.
Security trailer in parking lot.
Arrest on the beach, May 2009.
2010: grafitti shows gangs are roaming the beach after the security guards were hired.
The path the deputies like to use to get to the beach quickly from their binocular perch on the hill above. This is next to the concrete barrier so watch out!

After the raids of 2000 effectively elimated nude use at Bates Beach, it is important to point out that the nudists never really "left" the Santa Barbara community, they just scattered to many other and more remote areas of the county.

We gave the County several years to see if the bathing suited crowd would take over our section of beach but they haven’t. Instead, the gangs are moving in. Drug sales and prostitution in the parking lot above the beach cause the Parks Department to move in a security trailer in 2009 (which is manned only from Memorial Weeknd through Labor Day.)

In 2001, Sheriff Deputy Darren Farthingham, who was a patrol officer at the beach in the mid-1990's, told us on several occasions, “I never had a problem with the nudists. My problem was with others who were attracted to the beach.” He was certain if the nudists left, the "bad element" would also leave, and the general public would come in because they had been afraid to use the beach when the nudists were there.

But Farthingham missed the obvious: the people intent on lewd behavior are STILL at the beach, whether or not the nudists are around. These creepy people exist everywhere: at every other beach, at our playgrounds, in shopping malls, in our churches and in our schools. It is unfair to classify nude beaches as a "pervert magnet" because all you have to do is look at the Megan’s Law database to see they are everywhere in every community.

After 7 years of crime and trash at Bates, it is obvious that removing the nudists did not solve the problem but made it worse. The county now has parked a security trailer in the parking lot to handle the increased incidents of drug use, lewd conduct, and even prostitution going on here. During the summer of 2009 we are noticing the first evidence of gang graffiti on some of the buildings.

Farthingham was wrong.

The lack of a population at the beach means those who do come are more vulnerable to car break-ins and sexual assaults, both of which have risen dramatically these past few years. Word of mouth spread that the beach was unsafe, and many people stopped going there. In response, the county invested a great deal of money to upgrade the picnic area above the beach with new benches and sidewalks.

When we visit Bates beach today, we observe this picnic area is rarely in use. When people do come down to the sand they rarely venture north beyond the safety of the ramp area. Except to run their dogs (see photos below.)

In the past few months we have noticed some increased law enforcement focus on the beach parking lot. A new “camouflaged” trailer is in the parking lot acting as a base of operations. New swing gates are installed at the parking lot entrance with beach hours now restricted from sunrise to sunset.

Regarding the dogs.

Beach visitors and people who live at the Point are being allowed to run their dogs without a leash, in violation of the county ordinance. Come down any day to see and smell the dog excrement littering the sand. We have complained to deputies about the leash law, but this does not seem to be a priority. Even the security guards who live in the trailer let their dog run free on the beach!

All dog photos taken Saturday, July 18, 2009, from 11am to 2pm. Horses were on beach at 1pm July 26, 2009. This is just a representative sample - we took over 30 pictures!. We want to assure you, we have nothing against dogs. We love dogs. Our point is that here is an example of a county law health and safety that is not being enforced on that beach, apparently by choice.

Nudists want the same rights as the dogs and horses!
(And we promise not to pee or defecate on the sand!)