Sonoma County signs discourage nonessential travel amid shelter-in-place order

What is a tourist destination to do when the coronavirus all of a sudden makes unwelcome interlopers out of travelers that only weeks ago may have been warmly greeted as guests?

Well, Sonoma County has taken to putting up road signs along main corridors, discouraging out-of-town visitors from frequenting the county’s closed beaches and parks.

“Shelter in place enforced,” the blue signs read. “Essential travel only.” Accompanying signs carry the same message in Spanish.

The signs, which crews began installing Monday, have been sought for weeks by some county officials in an effort to stem the stream of guest traffic, particularly in west county, where the Russian River and coast are hot spots for visitors.

In just the first two weeks of Sonoma County’s park closures, which took effect March 23, state park rangers contacted 2,000 illicit visitors, 95% of whom were from outside of Sonoma County, according to Sonoma County Regional Parks Director Bert Whitaker.

County rangers have encountered 6,260 people and issued 34 citations for park hoppers violating the shelter-in place order across the regional park system, with 2,860 contacts and 19 of those citations occurring along the Sonoma Coast, Whitaker said.

As law enforcement agencies countywide have stepped up enforcement and begun writing tickets, Sonoma County Supervisor Lynda Hopkins sees the signs as a fair warning for those who would flout the county’s shelter-in-place orders.

“This is one more way of notifying people,” said Hopkins, who represents the western county and has championed the new signs. “Roadside signage is a quick way of broadcasting the message…so people can’t say they weren’t warned.”

And they are far from the lone warnings. For weeks, other signs along Highway 1 have warded off visitors.

They include a mobile, electronic sign like those used in road construction zones notifying passersby of park and beach closures. A small banner tacked onto the entrance sign for Bodega Bay reads, “Love Bodega Bay. But visit after shelter in place.”

The new county signs, which also include a graphic representation of the COVID-19 spike protein, have been ready since at least April 2, but their installation was delayed because of internal disagreement over placement and extra steps related to the emergency operations process, officials say.

The 60 metal placards - half are in English and the other half in Spanish - are going up in pairs on 30 signposts across the county, at a total cost of $15,000 to $20,000.

Their placement comes about two weeks before the county’s current shelter order expires May 3, with health and parks officials in talks about revisions that would allow some park use, but perhaps only for those walking, running or biking through parks in their neighborhoods. Parking lots and restrooms would remain closed.

Some members of the Board of Supervisors questioned the message and expense of the signs.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin, via text message, said that the “commitment of staff time for this doesn’t make sense for our area,” speaking of her eastern Sonoma County district, which includes Sonoma Valley, where wine tasting rooms, along with parks, are closed.

Supervisor David Rabbitt, who represents southern Sonoma County, will have just one sign in his district. He predicted the signs would be prone to vandalism or theft.

“Have we seen that as a problem we’re trying to solve, or are we solving a problem that doesn’t exist?” Rabbitt said last week at the board’s meeting, saying he would prefer temporary, electronic signs.

Rabbitt said he had to delete a Facebook post about the signs after comments turned nasty.

Monte Rio resident Josh Dale said the efforts amounted to a waste of money.

“Have they lost their minds?” Dale said in an email to The Press Democrat. Public works crews would be better off doing road maintenance, he asserted. “With little or no traffic about, let’s fill some pot holes and fix some roads!”

Public Works Director Johannes Hoevertsz said his crews began installing the signs Monday. The initial plan called for six sign posts in Hopkins’ district, and one each in the districts represented by supervisors James Gore, Rabbitt and Gorin.

In Rabbitt’s district, the first pair of placards went up along Highway 37; in Gorin’s they were placed on Highway 12. The lone sign in Gore’s district was placed Wednesday morning on Geysers Road near the Sonoma-Mendocino border.

Supervisor Shirlee Zane, whose urban district encompasses central Santa Rosa and much of Rohnert Park, will have no signs. The remaining placards will be used for replacements or for additional signs at newly identified locations, Hoevertsz said.

He acknowledged the signs may prove a target for thieves and vandals, but he said they’re also a good warning for residents and nonresidents.

“We need to be careful, but we need to make people aware,” he said. “For some people, COVID-19 is an inconvenience. For some, it means death.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: As of late Wednesday, it was still unclear whether any adjustment to the Sonoma County public health officer’s order closing county parks would apply to Russian River beaches. An earlier version of this story misstated how those beaches would be impacted.

Staff Writer Mary Callahan contributed to this report. You can reach Staff Writer Tyler Silvy at 707-526-8667 or at tyler.silvy@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @tylersilvy.