MONTEREY — Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel are getting tough on beach-goers who refuse to respect shelter-in-place guidelines, particularly in keeping a safe distance from each other and are backing that up with everything from misdemeanor charges to hefty fines.
On Wednesday, Monterey City Manager Hans Uslar said Monterey Police “will not hesitate” to issue $1,000 fines to people who are using beaches but are refusing to adhere to posted restrictions, essentially mirroring what other waterfront communities are doing in California.
Describing it as a partial closure, Uslar said exercise activities such as walking, running, surfing and kayaking are appropriate for beaches, but just sitting around, group sports, erecting tents or hauling coolers out to the beach will be subject to the fines.
Last weekend city officials said they witnessed inappropriate behavior that was reaching a “tipping point,” which prompted them to enact more severe penalties. This weekend police will be notifying beach-goers of the new consequences as an education attempt before the fines begin to be levied.
The new restrictions will apply to all city parks as well, Uslar said.
Along with the new fines will be street closures near Del Monte Beach. Parking is now banned on Tide Avenue, Surf Way and Beach Way two blocks up to Spray Avenue between the hours of 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. Parking at Wharf 2 remains open for the crews of more than 20 fishing boats that are taking advantage of an abundance of squid in Monterey Bay, mostly fishing about one-quarter mile offshore of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Carmel is getting even tougher with beach scofflaws by issuing misdemeanor citations for those not practicing responsible physical distancing, said City Administrator Chip Rerig in a video update Tuesday. Citations will be forwarded to the Monterey County District Attorney’s office, which will decide whether to prosecute or not.
Similar to Monterey, Carmel was seeing an influx of people from out of town ignoring the shelter-in-place order.
“We’ve had some frustration because they weren’t heeding our instructions,” Rerig said.
Pacific Grove has closed Lovers Point Park and surrounding areas because of the lack of adherence to physical distancing protocols.
Meanwhile, Monterey County announced during a Board of Supervisors’ meeting that the Fairgrounds in Monterey will be open Friday to accept certain “guests” who are COVID19 positive but have left hospitals to finish recovering. The individuals that will be housed at the alternative site will be people who if they returned to their crowded living conditions — such as the homeless — would stand a high likelihood of infecting others.
Uslar said the city is being notified of any changes at the fairgrounds. Assistant City Manager Nat Rojanasathira said that the fairgrounds patient intake system has an automatic notice that alerts the city to any new guests.
In other developments:
- There have been social media posts that claim that the Monterey Police Department brought in a barber to give haircuts against the shelter-in-place order. There have been no such occurrences, Uslar said.
- Stevenson School is donating another 1,000 masks to area first responders, including for hospital and urgent care medical professionals.
- Pacific Grove Public Library is giving away 1,400 books to Pacific Grove’s preschool and elementary students. That works out to one free book for every student in preschool to fifth grade. Information: https://www.pacificgrovelibrary.org/about-city/news/book-giveaway.
- Maija West, chair of the Women’s Fund Leadership Council and a board member of the Community Foundation for Monterey County said Wednesday that the annual Women’s Fund Luncheon will be held online on May 12. The program is now free. To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/virtual-womens-fund-luncheon-2020-tickets-91876141011
