KCOY Santa Maria, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo - NewsDigging for the "Ten Commandments" at the Guadalupe Dunes Delayed Again

"Probably better than 50 percent of our visitors to the Dunes Center come because of the 10 Commandments", says Dunes Center Executive Director Frances Romero. 

The Dunes Center is contract administrator for the Ten Commandments excavation project which has been dubbed the "search for the lost city".

The documentarian and archaeologist that want to dig up what's left in the sand have been told by Santa Barbara County planners that even though they finally have the money to begin work, something that has eluded them for years, they will now have to wait at least another two months for a county coastal development permit.

Supporters say it will push the excavation project back another year because of the upcoming unpredictable weather and the Snowy Plover nesting season. 

"It is a registered, protected archaeological site", Romero says, "because of the weather the site is becoming damaged, people are also looting the site which is illegal and this process to excavate the site is to save what's left." 

In addition to the financial blow to the Dunes Center which expects to lose about $20,000 in fees from the excavation, its also another blow for the City of Guadalupe which has seen its daily tourism plummet with the loss of the access road that leads to the County Dunes Park which was washed away by past winter storms. 

Now visitors have to walk nearly a mile from the nearest paved road to reach the county park beach. 

"Its not just Guadalupe's beach but its north county Santa Barbara's beach", Romero adds, "150 to 200,000 people living in our area of the county and they don't have easy beach access any longer." 

The county has pledged to expedite the process for the coastal development permit for the Ten Commandments movie set excavation.