Accident at More Mesa caves heightens neighbors’ concerns

The three caves carved into a sandstone bluff rising above the Pacific just north of Santa Barbara don’t look particularly dangerous. And they probably wouldn’t be if no one ventured inside them.

But in recent years, young people have been drawn to the More Mesa caves, where they camp overnight, build fires and drink beer. Some draw graffiti on the large boulders that form the caves’ jagged mouths.

Neighbors who live along the 265 acres of coastal wild land that make up More Mesa have long complained that the unwelcome visitors trespass on their property and climb over their fences — with their backpacks, blankets, even bicycles in tow — to gain access to the mesa and the caves below.

But when a 19-year-old man was hit by a falling boulder and critically injured earlier this month, residents demanded something be done before someone was killed. County officials said they could only do so much because More Mesa is privately owned.

And for a while no one could seem to find the Saudi real estate developer who owns the land of breathtaking beauty and unforeseen danger.

Covered in coastal sage scrub, pinpoint clover and wild buckwheat, the natural refuge is tucked away between the residential community of More Mesa Shores and the seaside mansions of Hope Ranch. It has long been a destination for nature lovers, hikers and joggers, and responsible users say they don’t want their access restricted.

But locals began noticing a growing influx of college- and high-school-age people over the last two years, tromping toward the bluff’s edge and then navigating a rocky trail down to the caves, hauling logs for campfires and coolers filled with food and drinks. The caves are tall enough to stand in and roomy enough for campers to roll out their sleeping bags and stay for the night.

“Kids like playing in them,” said Santa Barbara County Deputy Fire Chief Eric Peterson.

Bonnie Freeman, whose home sits on the mesa’s western edge, has seen intruders climb her chain-link fence and its locked gate to get to the cliffs. The unwelcome visitors aren’t only students, but members of a street gang who have carved their initials into nearby oak trees, she said. They leave trails of trash, and the wide beach is littered with shards of glass.

“The word is out: This is not a nature walk down here; this is a party place,” said Freeman, a community activist who’s lived at More Mesa Shores for 13 years.

The man who was hurt Sept. 6 was “pulling on a rock and it fell on him,” Peterson said. He was accompanied by several college-age friends that Saturday.

More Mesa Shores resident Larry Dighera, who frequently monitors cave activity from his bluff-top home, happened to take a photograph of the group that afternoon, just hours before the 7:55 p.m. accident. At least seven people are captured in the picture, wearing bright-colored shorts, smiling, some standing and gazing out at the ocean.

“It was pretty benign, really,” Peterson said. “They were just out there having a good time and he pulled in the wrong place, and a big chunk came down.”

Peterson said the victim, whose name has not been released, suffered severe head injuries but was thought to be “showing signs of improvement.”

The bluffs are fragile and easily distressed, and locals worry there will be a repeat of what happened in 1989: A 17-year-old Goleta boy was killed and his 14-year-old friend injured when a cave collapsed on them.

Before the recent accident, concerned residents had tried unsuccessfully to reach Khalid bin Saud Shobily, whose Saudi Arabian real estate investment group had bought the More Mesa property in 2012. They wanted him to come up with a plan to make the bluffs safer and stem the growing tide of cave users.

“We just don’t want to see anything worse happen than what’s already happened,” said Patricia Feingold, a More Mesa resident of nearly 20 years. “But no one knows how to get ahold of him.”

Then, earlier this month, authorities made contact with a representative of Shobily, who agreed to place warning signs on his property, Peterson said.

“The owner of the property has been very helpful,” Peterson said. “I think he’s interested in trying to be as responsible as possible.”

Visitors have to walk a dirt path on public and private land to get to the mesa and caves. One property owner put up tall, metal “No trespassing” signs to keep people from straying off the trail. To discourage overnight camping in the caves and in response to a community proposal, the county recently installed signs prohibiting parking from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. along the parking strip.

But Feingold noted that the most recent cave incident occurred after the county’s signs appeared.

“The people who are going to the caves now don’t necessarily care anyway,” she said. “They go there because they want to go.”

On a recent weekday morning, five UC Santa Barbara students straggled up the sun-scorched trail, glass bottles clinking in a plastic trash bag, backpacks filled with sleeping bags and clothes, a guitar strapped to one girl’s back.

They had spent the night in a cave, playing guitar, listening to the waves crash on the beach and talking. Sam McCrea, 19, said they learned about the caves through “the grapevine,” but hadn’t heard about the accident.

He said the information might not keep them away but it would make them more careful. They had left their car at the More Mesa entrance without noticing the signs barring overnight parking.

McCrea said he had visited before and was struck by the stunning view of the ocean from the bluffside perch.

Andre Anderiasian, 18, said he had taken his parents to marvel at the panorama, adding, “It’s epic.”

amanda.covarrubias@latimes.com
Twitter: @amcovarrubias