Cave Landing Parking Lot

Cave Landing Public Workshop

Author: Nick Franco
Date: 2/20/2019 2:08:11 PM

Cave Landing Public Workshop to be held February 26th


San Luis Obispo County Parks will hold a Public Workshop to hear input on a conceptual plan to create a safer parking area at Cave Landing to protect the public access to the beach, cave, trails, coastal views, and night star viewing.  The conceptual plan incorporates the public input gathered at a previous Public Workshop held last April.  The workshop will be held at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday February 26th at the PG&E Community Education Center located at 6588 Ontario Road in San Luis Obispo.

Cave Landing includes numerous unimproved trails, including a trail from the unpaved parking area to Pirate’s Cove beach, and other trails along the bluff.  The parking area is deeply rutted with significant erosion and often congested during the summer.  The secluded nature of the area has led to its use for night time parties, public drunkenness, drug use and petty theft, and there have been numerous injuries and medical responses.  The site also contains sensitive archaeological resources and is a Native American sacred site.

The County attempted to develop the site as a part of the County Park System in 2014, but was denied the permit for the complete project primarily to concerns that the project involved too much development for the site.  Since 2014, the Whale Cave Conservancy volunteers have regularly removed trash, but are unable to keep up with the volume of trash generated.  There has also been an increase in graffiti that degrades the natural rock formations.  The site’s reputation as a party spot has continued to grow.

A workshop was held last April to define a scope of work that would be minimal in nature, but still allow for better protection of this natural area.  This workshop will present the results of that with a proposed design and hear from the public about the ability of this design to help implement potential solutions.

“We continue to hear that the public wants to protect this beautiful area and supports adding it to the County Park System as a Natural Area,” said Nick Franco, County Parks Director.  “We need to hear from the public if we are on the right track so we can most effectively proceed with a low scale project that will help protect Cave Landing.”