After years of delay, Pirate’s Cove parking lot finally gets an upgrade. Here’s a look

The San Luis Obispo County Parks Department has completed construction on long-awaited improvements to Cave Landing, the Pirate’s Cove parking lot in Avila Beach.

“People from all over the world can come enjoy this incredible vista,” San Luis Obispo County Supervisor Dawn Ortiz-Legg said during a ribbon cutting at the site on Thursday.

The area is sacred to the yakʔitʸutʸu Northern Chumash Tribe , Ortiz-Legg said, adding she’s glad the county will maintain the area and encourage visitors to respect the land.

The county raised the parking lot to improve drainage, then added a layer of fill to level out the lot. The county also built an accessible lookout point to the top of the lot that faces the bay, SLO County Parks and Recreation Director Tanya Richardson said.

“This has smoothed out the road and made it much more safe,” Richardson said.

The parking lot now has the capacity for about 73 cars, she said.

A $287,500 grant from the California State Coastal Conservancy funded part of the project, while $797,125 of County Parks facility development impact fees covered the rest of the cost.

Sherwood Design Engineers designed the project, and JG Contracting built it.

Parking lot has better drainage, signage

First, the contractor filled and layered the parking lot with compacted road base material to make it smoother, JG Contracting Superintendent Dan Callery said.

They also built three paved parking spots to make the area accessible to those with disabilities, he said.

In addition, the county added an entryway sign, trash and recycling cans, bicycle racks and perimeter boulders to mark the boundaries of the parking lot.

To improve drainage, the county installed a bioswale, which is a man-made ditch lined with vegetation that captures water running off the lot, according to Callery. The soil in the bioswale filters contaminates out of the water, preventing them from draining into the ocean, he said.

During the winter, vehicles used to get stuck in the mud at Cave Landing. Properly draining water from the area will prevent mud from accumulating in the road so its easier to drive there.

Cave Landing now also includes a lookout point that faces Pirate’s Cove and connects with a trail to the clothing-optional beach below. Interpretative panels were placed next to the lookout point to introduce visitors to local wildlife and explain the significance of the land to the yakʔitʸutʸu Northern Chumash Tribe.

Construction was slightly delayed by the winter storms, which turned the site into “a mud pit,” Callery said.

A long road to repairs

The Cave Landing improvements have been in the works for more than a decade.

In 2013, the California Coastal Commission denied the county’s plans to pave the parking lot and add bathrooms to the area — halting the project.

In 2017, county officials discussed closing the area to vehicles at night to prevent vandalism and crime, an effort that was eventually abandoned.

And in October 2020, the Planning Department granted the county a minor use permit to fix up the area — but the cleanup effort has encountered numerous hiccups since, according to previous Tribune coverage.

Finally, the construction started in November and was completed in April.

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