Peninsula Beach Parking Lots, Restrooms To Begin Opening: Report

HALF MOON BAY, CA – Parking lots and restrooms at area beaches are expected to open this weekend in San Mateo County, but to what extent that happens will be determined on a case-by-case basis, according to a published report.

Gabe McKenna, the public safety superintendent for California State Parks, told the San Mateo Daily Journal that restrictions at beaches statewide will be lifted beginning Saturday, but that not all areas will allow parking areas and restrooms to open.

In Half Moon Bay, all of the parking lots and restrooms at beaches, including the city’s popular beach, Poplar Beach, along with others included owned by the state will be open, a Half Moon Bay spokesperson told the newspaper. However, McKenna has indicated that parking areas and restrooms at some beaches in the city will remain closed, according to the report.

San Mateo County remains under a stay at home order, which prohibits residents from going to the beach from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. According to the Daily Journal, Pacifica city officials expect a new public health order to be issued on Friday that will loosen restrictions on beaches.

The report stated that Pacifica city officials are anticipating reopening beach parking on Saturday.

“We’re not looking at this as a reopening, we’re just increasing access,” McKenna told the newspaper. “We’re increasing access in the parking lots and restrooms, but not at max capacity level.”

According to the report, areas where parking areas and restrooms do open will be limited and can change depending on how the transition goes. Parking lots and restrooms at county beaches have been closed since late March when the coronavirus pandemic began impacting daily life.

But as certain areas of California have started to reopen, local governments have been working with health officials to determine at what rate reopening should begin.

According to the Daily Journal report, there will be “increased access” at Francis, Venice and Cowell Ranch beaches, as well as at Bean Hollow and the south parking lot at Martini Creek in Montara, McKenna said.

There will also be increased access at Año Nuevo. The lots and restrooms at Roosevelt/Dunes Beach, San Gregorio and Pebble Beach, will all remain closed, McKenna said, according to the Daily Journal report.

“We’re still urging people to stay home,” McKenna told the Daily Journal. “This isn’t a push to bring people to beaches. We still have a shelter in place in effect.”