Beaches in and around Half Moon Bay will remain open on Labor Day weekend but Pacifica beaches will be closed due to concerns about overcrowding amid the pandemic.
“Labor Day weekend, as an end of summer holiday, is expected to draw large crowds,” Pacifica Mayor Deirdre Martin said in a statement. “With the continuing health concerns related to spread of COVID-19, the city is taking the necessary measures to promote the health and safety of our community.”
Closures will include Pacifica State Beach (Linda Mar Beach) and north and south parking lots; Crespi parking lot in front of the Pacifica Community Center; Rockaway Beach and north and south parking lots; Sharp Park Beach; and Esplanade Beach and Fisherman’s Lot in the 800 block of Palmetto Avenue.
Remaining open for recreation will be the Coastal Trail, Mori Point hiking trails, Beach Boulevard Promenade and Pacifica Pier, where visitors are expected to observe measures such as wearing a mask and physically distancing 6 feet apart.
California State Beaches, including Francis, Dunes and Venice beaches and their parking lots, will remain open during the weekend, according to Half Moon Bay officials.
The Half Moon Bay City Council on Tuesday considered closing the beaches under its control, which include Poplar Beach, Surfer’s Beach and a portion of Miramonte Beach, but ultimately nixed the proposal.
Councilmembers felt even if beaches were closed visitors would still come to the coastside and take up all the parking spots of nearby neighborhoods, leave behind copious amounts of trash and congest roads. Those concerns have played out nearly every weekend since the onset of the pandemic and remain a sticking point in the city.
“I would keep everything open to spread the density across all the beaches within our jurisdiction otherwise closing anything just pushes twice the density to all the other areas and that’s what creates those problems,” said Councilman Robert Brownstone during the meeting.
Councilwoman Deborah Penrose echoed the sentiment.
“It’s unfair to put that pressure on our neighborhoods close to the beach,” she said. “And it’s unfair to ask law enforcement to be monitoring that kind of activity.”
County Manager Mike Callagy at a press conference Wednesday urged beachgoers to wear masks and adhere to social distancing guidelines.
“I want to emphasize, COVID-19 does not take a holiday off. It does not take Labor Day off and people cannot let their guard down over this weekend,” he said. “We have seen in the past, spikes over the Fourth of July weekend and other weekends where people like to congregate, they don’t wear their masks, they don’t socially distance. They don’t wash their hands and we end up with more cases.”
Monterey and Santa Cruz County beaches will also be closed during Labor Day weekend.
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Thomas Morgan said:
Why not move to 4 districts and have full time president voted on county wide?
nicholasdobbs said:
nicholasdobbs said:
nicholasdobbs said:
nicholasdobbs said:
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