© 2008 Dr. Nell Langford -Above video can be used with permission

Sale of County Land for OHV use

This documentary shows how the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Division of State Parks and Recreation distorts information, and how these distortions are passed on to public officials and the public.

The Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Area ODSVRA is out of compliance with its 1982 Coastal Permit, which specified that an alternative entry had to be established so that vehicles would not drive on the beach, through the creek and the natural preserve, or on county land for ingress and egress to the ODSVRA. The use of La Grande Tract and Pismo State Beach for off-roading violates the San Luis Obispo Local Coastal Plan (LCP) which designates the area from Pier Avenue to the ODSVRA as a buffer area.

The OHV claims it does the county a favor by relieving it from liability, but refuses to give the county information on lawsuits. Air pollution downwind of the ODSVRA is health threatening and pedestrians have no access to a necessary beach.

The OHV's claim that off-roading benefits the local economy $200 million a year is a distortion that it has been forced to recant.

December Decision, December 12, 2006

This documentary shows how one citizen thwarted a decision made in closed session on December 12, 2006 by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors to sell county land to the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Division of California State Parks and Recreation without a public hearing. Part Two will show the cover up

This documentary begins where December Decision left off; with Larry Bross's appeal of San Luis Obispo Planning Director's conformity report asserting that the use of off-highway vehicles on county land is in conformance with the county general plan.

What the public did not know is that the county board of supervisors, in closed session on December 12, 2006, had decided it was willing to sell the almost 600 acres of Pacific Shoreline Dunes to the Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) of State Parks and Recreation for a mere $4.8 million. The mineral rights were included. Had the offer been over $5 million, a public hearing would have been required. But as December Decision Part Two will show. the OHV has been buying up parcels of land in La Grande Tract for years with "opportunity money", without county or coastal review.

The county is now trying to get it right, after misinformation and pressure from the off-highway vehicle industry almost ran over it, as it has run over Sacramento.

This 24 minute video shows a plume of dust pollution originating in the off-road riding area of the Oceano Dunes. This dangerous plume is carried by the wind to Nipomo, where particulate matter (PM 10) levels violate health standards.

Much of this off-highway riding area is owned by the County, who must decide whether to sell the land for off-highway use, which breaks the crust of the dunes.

It also shows the County Supervisor of the affected district, and the Supervisor of the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation Area giving information to the public in a Town Hall Meeting in February 2007. This video challenges many of their statements with documents and maps.

The video shows the Executive Director of the Coastal Commission stating in Februrary 2008 that the use of the land for off-roading is in violation of the County's General Plan.

If the off-roading is kept off county land, there would be no access to any of the dunes for seven months a year, which would improve air quality downwind.

For more videos, see:

For information contact