According to a bill signed into law by the Governor of California on Wednesday, the fabled beaches of Hollister Ranch must have public access by 2022. Photo: hollisterranchlistings.com
After decades of debate and a number of lawsuits over the years, on Wednesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed a bill into law that aims to finally create public access to the fabled, pristine, and, until now, exclusive beaches of Hollister Ranch – just north of Santa Barbara.
Assembly Bill 1680, which was introduced in the state legislature back in March by Assemblymember Monique Limón, deputizes the California Coastal Commission, in collaboration with the State Coastal Conservancy, the Department of Parks and Recreation, and the State Lands Commission, to develop a comprehensive public access program for Hollister Ranch by April 2021 and to have phase one of that plan complete by April 2022.
“We’re pleased with the Governor’s actions and Assemblymember Limon’s leadership,” said Jack Ainsworth, executive director of the California Coastal Commission, in an emailed statement to The Inertia. “For our part, we will continue with this collaborative process that’s already begun and we hope all stakeholders will do likewise, but if not this bill provides some important guardrails.”
The new public access plan replaces a 1982 settlement between the Coastal Commission and the Hollister Ranch Owners Association that would have seen the construction of a YMCA camp and given visitors access to area beaches. The YMCA was never built.
The fight between government agencies, particularly the Coastal Commission, for public access and the Hollister Ranch Owners Association who see themselves as protectors of one of the last stretches of wild coast in California has taken place for more than three decades. But, the issue recently gained steam when the Commission settled with landowners in May of last year forfeiting the last remaining land-based public access route for public access to a three-quarter-mile stretch of beach in an area of Cuarto Canyon. It made the beach public technically, but in order to access it, visitors were required to have a guide, or boat or paddle the two miles in to enjoy it.
Coastal access advocates were incensed, culminating in a scathing New York Times op-ed written by Kathleen Sharp who claimed in no uncertain terms that wealthy landowners, under the guise of environmental advocacy, were engaging in behavior that whiffed of economic and racial discrimination.
But, surfers who either live there or visit there often don’t see it that way.
In a statement to the L.A. Times, Governor Newsom toed the line between public access advocacy and conservation.
“As Californians, respect and reverence for our beaches is in our DNA, so much so that we enshrined public beach access into our state constitution,” he said. “I’ve long fought to protect these public treasures for future generations and to ensure any person can experience their beauty. That won’t change now that I’m governor.”
