Pismo Beach has started using a new Barber Surf Rake Beach Cleaner that city officials say will pull buried litter from the sand, but only under tight California Coastal Commission permit limits. The machine, bought with the Pismo Beach Hospitality Association for $68,700, is meant to skim the upper layer of sand and remove debris that crews say regular cleanups have missed.
The equipment is drawing fresh attention now because the city is showing how it will work in practice, not just how it was approved on paper. Silas Clarke said the city wants to run it early in the morning, before beach users arrive, and keep it at least 50 feet from the high tide line. Under the permit, it can be used twice a month from May through September and once a month the rest of the year.
Clarke said the machine is aimed at the trash that sits just under the surface. “We’ve had a lot of people out cleaning the beach, again, not only our staff, but volunteers and everybody else,” he said. He added, “We’re finding trash is directly below the sand,” and said the cleaner removes only “an inch or two” from the top layer while still pulling out buried pieces that could otherwise wash into the ocean.
That is exactly where the fight begins. The San Luis Obispo chapter of the Surfrider Foundation says the equipment could disturb wildlife and damage sensitive beach habitat, even if it stays within the permit rules. The chapter said it will keep monitoring compliance with the mitigation measures and continue pushing for lower-impact beach cleaning methods, arguing that beachgoers should not need a tractor for the job.
For Pismo Beach, the wager is simple: use the machine sparingly, stay clear of the waterline, and catch the buried trash that hand crews and volunteers cannot reach. What remains unclear is how much debris it will actually pull out once it becomes part of the regular cleanup routine, but the city is betting that a cleaner beach without visible litter will justify the limits attached to it.
