A few months ago, new parking fees were put in place at the Pismo Preserve, switching from donations to a flat rate to cover maintenance cost.
In October 2025, the land conservancy of San Luis Obispo County started charging visitors to the Pismo Preserve $5 a day, or $50 for an annual pass, to park.
Janine Butler said she comes to the preserve at least once a week and invested in the annual pass as soon as they were available. She said some regulars weren’t as supportive of the new charges.
“I disagreed,” Butler said. “I'd rather have parking spots and places that are maintained and safe versus, not. You hear about people getting broken into at certain places and I think this is a little bit safer and I think that helps that a little bit.”
Before the fees went into place, city leaders were concerned that visitors would park in residential areas to avoid the cost. Pismo Beach police say since the parking fees have started they haven’t gotten any complaints so far.
Daniel Bohlman, the Deputy Director of the Conservancy said in less than three months, they’ve sold around 900 annual passes. That’s at least $45,000 going toward the Pismo Preserve.
“This program will go a long way in helping us offset a lot of the cost to operating the preserve,” Bohlman said. “It won't cover all the costs to operating the preserve, but it'll help really offset a tremendous amount of those costs.”
The funds to park at the preserve are used specifically for the open space. Bohlman said these fees pay for clean bathrooms, weed abatement and trail maintenance, especially after recent storms.
Kevin Lee commutes from Nipomo to hike with his dogs at the preserve. He said he’ll pay whatever it takes to keep the preserve maintained.
“It’s just like everything else,” Lee said. “There's so many of us, we got to keep adjusting until we can all get along.”
Bohlman said the Pismo Preserve is set to reopen on Saturday.
