***Victory For Off-Roaders*** tentatively...
The Ocotillo Wells lawsuit was heard in court November 17th and the judge made a tentative ruling in favor of the defendants (The State and Ocotillo Wells). This means the lawsuit is over and very likely in our favor, that open riding will remain at Ocotillo Wells. The judge has not yet made his final ruling, which will likely happen in the coming weeks. The court issued a tentative ruling stating: "Disposition The Department’s management of the Ocotillo Wells SVRA involves highly discretionary decisions wherein the Department must apply competing statutory directives to specific factual conditions at the park. Petitioner has attempted to show that the Department’s management decisions have been so palpably unreasonable and arbitrary as to show an abuse of discretion as a matter of law. However, the Petitioner has succeeded only in showing that the Department is not managing the park in the manner that Petitioner would prefer. Such differences of opinion are not sufficient to support issuance of a writ. (See Unruh v. Piedmont High School Dist. (1935) 4 Cal.App.2d 390, 393.) Accordingly, the petition is DENIED."
HUGE thank you to the San Diego Off Road Coalition - SDORC, California Off-Road Vehicle Association and Tierra Del Sol Four Wheel Drive Club of San Diego. This lawsuit took the help of the entire OHV community.