Despite the shelter-in-place order, out-of-area visitors flocked to San Mateo County’s coastal parks over Easter weekend, ignoring “no parking signs” and prompting the sheriff’s office to give over 900 verbal warnings and write 299 parking citations.
And while most of the activity was on the coast, the sheriff’s office also enforced violations elsewhere in the county. In one incident, verbal warnings were given to dozens of people gathered for a picnic near Alice’s Restaurant at Highway 84 and Highway 35 in Woodside.
“They were in a large group having a picnic in violation of the order following a weekend motorcycle ride through the rural roads of Woodside and unincorporated San Mateo County,” Lt. Stephanie Josephson said in a report Monday.
The San Mateo County coast saw an increase in visitors over the weekend starting on Good Friday, becoming its busiest on Saturday and continuing to be relatively busy on Sunday, Lt. Josephson said. Extensive “no parking signs” along Cabrillo Highway were disregarded, and coastal sheriff’s deputies contacted a “significant number” of visitors from Sacramento and San Joaquin Valley, and even one from New Jersey. Most out-of-area visitors appeared to come from San Francisco, she added.
“On a positive note, every deputy and CSO working this weekend received positive comments from the local population commending their efforts to reduce the numbers of people on the Coast,” Lt. Josephson said.
Photo credit: San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
