You’ll soon have to pay to park at the Pismo Preserve.
Starting next week, visitors to the Pismo Preserve will pay $5 per day or a $50 annual pass to park.
“It doesn't make sense to me because it's already very crowded here,” said San Luis Obispo resident Huan Hua Huang. “Then you still want us to pay the parking?”
The preserve is owned by the Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County. Before this fee, visitors could pay for parking on a voluntary basis, giving whatever they felt like to the conservancy. However, board president Pat Mullen said it wasn’t enough to help keep up the preserve.
“We finally decided that given the $200,000 a year operating costs to keep the restrooms clean and the trails maintained and managed, that we would need to start charging a small fee,” Mullen said.
Though the preserve is not in the city of Pismo Beach, city leaders have expressed their concerns about people parking in residential areas to avoid the fee.
“We’ve been working hard on our communications and our outreach to explain to people that that's a concern, that we want to make sure they don't impact local neighborhoods. We’re making a special effort to do outreach when we tell people about the parking fee here to not park in local neighborhoods or communities,” Mullen said.
Mullen added he’s heard a surprising amount of support from locals about the new prices.
Ross Chenot is a San Luis Obispo County resident who frequently visits the preserve.
“I feel like it's probably needed,” Chenot said. “It's probably what's necessary to help fund it and keep it the enjoyable place and safe place that we want it to be.”
