Hi All,
Thank you for joining us for the Big Sur Byways Organization (BSBO) on Wednesday, March 5th. During the meeting, California Coastal Commission (CCC) staff expressed that public comment is due today (March 7th) by 5:00pm for the March 12th CCC hearing. The projects going before the commission include Item No. 15b Caltrans Highway 1 signage project and Item No. 15c the Caltrans Mud Creek Landslide Highway 1 Stabilization. Please use this link to submit public comment by scrolling to items 15b and 15c and select ‘submit comment’ : https://www.coastal.ca.gov/meetings/agenda/#/2025/3 . You can also contact Eric Stevens directly at eric.stevens@coastal.ca.gov or 562-395-9462 for questions about the projects or the CCC hearing process.
Thank you again, and the Jubata Grass Story Book presentation will be sent to you all once we receive it. As a reminder, the next BSBO meeting is June 18th, 2025.
From one South Coast resident: “So it appears that Coastal Commish wanted Mud Creek to also become a recreational/access site, but Caltrans explains that due to Mud Creek being an active slide, it is not practical to host a recreational site on the bench below? Instead, Caltrans recommends converting the point between Alder and Villa creeks as a recreational site, correct? Additionally, Caltrans is asking for finishing work to be performed on Mud Creek to replace sea-side k-rails with a guardrail, re-seed the slope, etc., if I read this correctly?
I will use the comment button, to point out that Caltrans and Coastal Commish are proposing a recreation site at the “Shale Point” location between Alder and Villa creeks, but they aren’t providing restroom facilities. Caltrans repeatedly has stated they “are not in the bathroom business,” when we’ve asked them to make some pull-outs akin to a Rest Stop like at Gaviota. So, I won’t be persuasive, but it’d be good to mention that restrooms at a public “recreation site,” seem like a no brainer.”
Best,
Katie
If you’re driving the Big Sur coast, you already know what makes this place special—it’s wild, rugged, and mostly untouched. But keeping it that way doesn’t happen by accident. Every time a well-meaning project adds “just one more thing”—a parking lot here, a few signs there, a trash can, a bike rack—it chips away at what makes Big Sur unique.
A new proposal by the Coastal Commission suggests expanding public access just south of Mud Creek Slide, adding bike racks, trash cans, and other infrastructure. But why here?
The 2017 the Mud Creek landslide and Caltrans work created a massive, unnatural flat area along the coast. Some people now look at that space and assume it should be used for public access, even though before the slide, there was never a beach or a destination here. Caltrans, which still monitors the slide, does not want public access in that area due to safety concerns. Instead of accepting that, the CCC is now looking just south of Mud Creek to justify new development in the name of public access.
But here’s what’s missing from the conversation:
• Big Sur doesn’t need more development to be accessible – This isn’t about improving an existing trail or protecting a well-loved coastal area. This is about forcing infrastructure into a place that was never meant to have it—bike racks, trash cans, and other amenities that alter the landscape forever and put more burden on Caltrans to manage.
• Bathrooms were never part of the plan—because they wouldn’t work here – Someone commenting (seems to have been removed) on this post suggested adding restrooms, but Caltrans has made it clear they are not in the business of maintaining bathrooms. That means if facilities were ever placed here, they’d likely fall into disrepair, become a waste management nightmare, or simply never be serviced. This location is one of the lowest elevation spots you drive along the coast where coastal views are really special. Do you want to look at a bathroom there? And here’s the thing—there’s already a public restroom just one mile away at Gorda, and another one a mile further at Willow Creek.
• Big Sur’s magic is in its wildness – It’s easy to think, “Why not add a few amenities?” But that’s the difference between Big Sur and every overdeveloped part of the coastline in California. Here, we don’t build unless it’s absolutely necessary. Once infrastructure goes in, it doesn’t come out. What seems small today becomes a slippery slope to more development in places that were never meant to have it.
People don’t come to Big Sur for conveniences. They come because it’s one of the last places on the California coast where nature still comes first. The question is: Do we want to keep it that way?
then again.. along with brains goes having a heart..and frankly Im not regularly seeing either by local gov agency’s. Penile dysfunction among US men is in the rise ( no pun intended)..& trends show that issue breeds discontent, broken relationships, increases in reliance upon pharmacy drugs …so along with mass #’s of female & male obesity…the future don’t look too rosy… mire grumpiness and less loving & less big heartedness…..what plan do I have ? Eating well, plenty of deep sleep, finding ways to recognize when I m on the ‘smart-track’ & listening to my body’s deep place wisdom