In a recently released analysis of safety conditions at the Oceano Dunes, a SLO County grand jury found that emergency response times to SLO County residents aren’t negatively impacted by emergencies at the state park. Costs, however, are a slightly different story.
In a report released on June 16, a SLO County
grand jury found that emergency response times to SLO County residents aren’t
negatively impacted by emergencies at the state park.
The 20-page report, which was submitted by the
grand jury on June 16, examines the various state and county agencies that
provide public safety services at the Oceano Dunes State Vehicular Recreation
Area (SVRA) and time and money they typically spend there. It’s an attempt,
according to the report, to quantify what’s required to maintain safety in the
dunes.
“If the SVRA was closed to off-road vehicles there
is no indication that there would be a significant reduction in services
provided by Cal Fire, sheriff’s department, or San Luis Ambulance,” the report
concludes. “Changes could include reduction of some personnel or overtime, and
some specialty equipment may be reassigned. There is no evidence that an SVRA
closure would impact response time to South County residents.”
The Oceano Dunes SVRA was a major focal point for
SLO County residents in 2019, and was the center of debates over conservation,
public health, and land use. Last year also saw an increase in the number of
serious incidents occurring at the dunes, including six off-roading fatalities
and a shooting during a concert in May 2019, which led to some calls for
increased safety awareness and the total elimination of vehicle riding areas.
But in its report, the grand jury chalked 2019 up
to an outlier in terms of serious incidents, and blames mostly speed and
inexperience among some drivers in the dunes for 2019’s death rates.
About 70 California State Park rangers oversee
public safety at the Oceano Dunes, and during a normal year, they respond to
about 5,800 calls for service in the park, most of which involve minor
violations like speeding and off-leash dogs. While park rangers made only about
47 arrests at the SVRA in 2016, that shot up to 89 arrests in 2017, followed by
82 in 2018. Despite the few major incidents at the Oceano Dunes in 2019, its
arrest rate held close to years prior at 84 arrests.
“Compared to the number of visitors at the dunes,
the arrest rate is very low,” the grand jury report reads, “but does appear to
be trending upward.”
However, the report shows that the county is
spending significant time and money at the dunes, and not always on SLO County
residents.
The SLO County Sheriff’s Office dedicated an
estimated 26 hours of staff time and $2,215 responding to issues at the dunes
in 2019. That doesn’t include the attempted murder investigation, which took an
extra 237 hours and $19,559.
Cal Fire spent about $358,000 on 260 calls for
service to the dunes in 2019, which made up about 21 percent of its total calls
and operating budget. San Luis Ambulance responded to 265 calls to the dunes in
2019 and transported 145 patients to the hospital, 92.8 percent of whom were
not SLO County residents.
SLO County incurred even more costs while
prosecuting arrests made at the dunes and booking the suspects into county
jail.
Although the report noted that visitors to the
Oceano Dunes are expected to pump about $243 million into SLO County’s economy
through direct, indirect, and induced spending, the grand jury recommended that
the county explore “cost recovery for county services.”
“The nature of off-road activities on the Oceano
Dunes/SVRA require a unique level of county support,” the report reads.
It also recommends increased promotion of safety
strategies while using vehicles in the dunes. ∆
New Times
Kasey Bubnash
July 1, 2020
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