Half Moon Bay cracking down on trash, mischief on Poplar Beach

Last year, the Sheriff’s Office implemented a bicycle patrol on the Coastal Trail and downtown and now it’s planning to purchase a Polaris off-road vehicle for patrols of Poplar Beach. The vehicle would be outfitted with the same equipment as a regular police car and can drive on sand.

“I think it’s going to be a great asset for our deputies to go out there, and even if they utilize it for two to three hours in the evening and on weekends people will know that there’s enforcement after hours,” said sheriff’s Capt. Saul Lopez.

The city also plans to hire private security to monitor the beach from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. every day of the week this summer to serve as a visual deterrent and as the eyes and ears of the Sheriff’s Office, according to a staff report. Lopez recommended unarmed security and the council agreed.

Per the California Coastal Act, Poplar Beach and the neighboring state beaches are open to the public 24 hours a day, but the associated parking lots close at sunset. Security will lock the gates of the parking lots at Poplar Beach, Redondo Beach Road, Smith Field and the Johnston House — a job that deputies have had to perform until now — and will alert the Sheriff’s Office if cars are parked in those lots after hours.

Signs will also be placed in and around the Poplar Beach parking lot to inform visitors of the rules, which include prohibitions on bonfires and alcohol consumption.

On the Fourth of July, the Sheriff’s Office will staff an additional patrol car with two deputies and place electronic signs at beaches, State Route 92 near Main Street and other locations around the city reminding the public that fireworks are illegal. 

The Sheriff’s Office will also deploy an additional patrol car on Labor Day.

As for maintenance, a garbage bag dispenser will be installed at Poplar Beach and Public Works employees will be picking up trash every day of the week through the end of September. 

That work will be in addition to a program that employs homeless people to clean up garbage on Poplar Beach and beyond three to four times a week and the city is committed to developing additional volunteer trash-collecting efforts. 

Councilwoman Debbie Ruddock also wants to see the public play a part in keeping Poplar Beach clean. 

“The public has to be a partner as well,” she said. “If you’re using the beaches, you have a responsibility for stewardship of the beach, too.”

She urged beachgoers to bring bags for their own trash and pick up other trash they may encounter and she also wants to see an “ambassador program” on the Fourth of July and on Labor Day in which docents with T-shirts engage people in the parking lot about the rules and expectations for the beach.

“It’s that touch of the public, establishing contact and not just signs and law enforcement, but regular folks saying ‘hey can you do us a favor and pack out your own trash,’” she said. 

Public Works Director John Doughty suggested such a program could become permanent.

The action plan is expected to cost less than $50,000 and funding is available within the operating budget for fiscal year 2019-20.

zachary@smdailyjournal.com

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