Residents of famed Bay Area surf spot urge city to close parking lots

Pacifica’s Linda Mar Beach can’t catch a break. Recently, tests revealed that human waste was the source of the fecal bacteria plaguing the milelong beach about 10 miles south of San Francisco. Now, human waste and other hazards are putting the community at odds, and pushing the city’s scenic stretch further from famous to infamous territory.

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The beach’s latest saga is centered on its parking lots. Linda Mar’s lots regularly feature surfers, tourists and Taco Bell acolytes alike circling for precious spots. Despite being expansive, the lots are often filled with RV trailers and other vehicles camped out in spots full-time.

The limited access and unsanitary conditions created by the lots’ permanent residents have pushed those who frequent the beach to a breaking point — many spoke out at a recent city council meeting and one local surfer started a petition, currently with over 1,100 signatures, to remove the overnight campers.

The tension has been mounting for some time. In November 2025, the city shut down the lots overnight citing public health and safety concerns “including vandalism, illegal dumping, sanitation hazards, and other conditions that created barriers to public coastal access and enjoyment” of the beach. However, the closures didn’t last — the California Coastal Commission determined that the city required a permit to close the lots.

City Manager Sean Charpentier said that’s exactly what would be happening at a Pacifica City Council meeting on Monday.

“We are working on that permit application,” Charpentier said, “… to move forward with an overnight closure of those lots and plan to submit that to the Coastal Commission by the end of this month.”

Charpentier added that the city would also be simultaneously submitting an emergency permit to shut down the lots overnight immediately.

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More than a dozen impassioned locals on both sides of the topic turned out for the public comment portion of the meeting. Resident Todd Ewell shared that despite spending $80 on a parking pass, he can’t find anywhere to park. He also said he worries about his young teen daughter being around the “unstable” people in the lot.

Jeanine Dubois, another resident, was also frustrated with the conditions at the lot. “The beach has become unwelcoming because of unsanitary conditions, both from the creek and RV permanent parking,” she said. “I don’t want to have to think, ‘When was the last time I had a hepatitis B shot?’ every time I get in the water, or play poo-poo hopscotch in the sand.”

Others, like Nancy Tierney, asked for a more compassionate approach to the issue. Like a handful of other speakers, Tierney praised the Pacifica Safe Parking Permit program, which lets unhoused people living in RVs and other large vehicles legally park them in dedicated spots. She also pointed out that Pacifica has the highest population of homeless individuals in San Mateo County despite its relatively small population.

Peggy O’Grady struck a measured tone. “There’s some commonality in this room,” she said. “… Nobody thinks what’s happening now is the solution for everybody.”