You have to admire the persistence, if not the strategy.

Opponents of the Great Highway park — now officially branded Sunset Dunes — are back in court after getting their first four legal arguments tossed out by a judge in January. Their new weapon of choice? CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, a.k.a. the state law that exists to protect the environment but is most frequently weaponized to block things people simply don't like.

Let's be clear about what's happening here: a group of residents is invoking an environmental protection statute to try to bring cars back to a beachfront road. The irony is thick enough to fog up your windshield on a Sunset District morning.

The broader picture is that the Great Highway park has been, by most measurable standards, a success. Voters approved the closure. The courts upheld it. Families, cyclists, joggers, and beachgoers have made it one of the most popular public spaces on the west side of the city. As one Outer Sunset resident put it, "I live in the Outer Sunset and love our new park. I assure you there's no debate over its future. The people here who want the park turned into a road are not interested in any form of debate. They are very vocal about it, but won't debate about it."

Even former drivers seem to have come around. One SF resident admitted, "As someone who actually drove this fairly regularly and was sort of bummed to not be able to use it anymore — lovely drive — I love the new park and think the efforts to close it are insane."

Look, we're not anti-car around here. We get that losing a through-road is annoying if it was part of your commute. But there's a difference between legitimate grievance and legal attrition warfare funded by people who lost at the ballot box and lost in court — four times. At some point, this stops being civic engagement and starts being an expensive tantrum.

And here's the fiscal reality that should bother everyone: every CEQA appeal means city attorneys billing hours, court resources tied up, and park improvements potentially delayed — all on the taxpayer's dime. The democratic process worked. The judiciary reviewed it. Maybe it's time to take the L, lace up some walking shoes, and go enjoy the park.