Court Battle Peaks for Picturesque Slice of Hollister Ranch
Case for Cuarta Beach Pits Private Ownership Against Public Access
The final chapter of a historic six-year legal battle pitting Hollister Ranch homeowners against state agencies tasked with providing public access to California beaches almost came to a close Monday afternoon in Judge Colleen Sterne’s courtroom. Almost.
At issue was a class-action settlement agreement in which the Hollister Ranch Owners Association (HROA) hammered out a deal with the state Attorney General’s office — representing the California Coastal Conservancy and the California Coastal Commission — to open the untrodden sands of Cuarta Beach to the general public (but only by way of small watercraft) and expand chaperoned beach-access programs for schoolchildren and nonprofits.
In exchange, the state agreed to give up any real or perceived rights to a decades-old offer to dedicate public access — complete with shuttle service from nearby Gaviota State Beach — along the main ranch road to the same beach, a nearly mile-long stretch of breathtaking California where Cuarta Canyon mets the sea.
