Woodside ordinance limiting buses on Kings Mountain Road reduces park access for camps
WOODSIDE -- Parents and their children who attend Peninsula Day Camp planned to speak out Tuesday at the Woodside Town Council meeting about their concerns over a new ordinance restricting large vehicles on Kings Mountain Road.
Concerned parents say the restriction would force some to miss out on the annual summer tradition.
The camp and other summer groups rely on long school buses to get participants into Huddart Park each day, but the new policy limits the size of vehicles in an attempt to prevent any crashes on the winding road.
"By far, this camp has been the most like educational of all the Girl Scout things I've done," said 20-year-old Emeline Robbins, a former camp attendee who now is a counselor. "I would come here...it wasn't even about being popular. It's just like, everyone else is cool."
Regulars say the camp is not only where they have made their closest friends, but where they have also learned important skills including fire and knife safety. Robbins says the bus ride is also an important part of the experience that helps everyone bond during camp.
"It really fosters that sense of dedication and giving back and the importance of community," said Carolyn Mish, another counselor who also went to camp when she was younger.
Woodside Town Manager Kevin Bryant says the council adopted this ordinance last fall out of growing concerns from more traffic on the road. He says after the pandemic, the park, along with many outdoor locations, saw an increase in visitors.
Construction in San Mateo County has also detoured more traffic onto that road. Bryant said the town had one accident earlier in the month involving a bus, car and bicycle.
"We were responding to that; looking forward to try and prevent any major incident from occurring on the road," he told KPIX. "I think there is an interest on our part to look forward as well, to make sure that we can get campers to camp and still make sure that everyone using that road is safe."
The restrictions are for vehicles over 35 feet in length and 13 feet in height. The concern is that Kings Mountain Road has hairpin turns and blind curves where a bus will need more than one lane to clear certain stretches.
There are exceptions for transportation permits, Peninsula Day Camp has one to let its camp participants travel by bus this summer.
"We believe people should have access to the park, they're great resources for the whole Peninsula community and the greater Bay Area," Bryant said. "But we also have a duty to make sure that accessing the park doesn't put both the people that are coming into the park as well as other users of Kings Mountain Road in any harms way."
Parents who volunteer for the camp and serve as unit leaders and on the committee say part of the frustration is that buses have been the way they get everyone to the park for 35 years. For some families, getting their children to the park would not be an option without the buses.
They hope the council will provide a more permanent solution beyond this summer, which is one of the reasons they decided to show up at the town meeting on Tuesday. Parents report that other camps have not received permits or were unable to transport all of their participants this year because of the new ordinance.
"This is an opportunity for a kid to really just be a kid," said Michelle Myhre Murphy, who serves on the camp committee. "The ordinance, I think, needs to be looked at on how it's impacting specifically youth organizations and access to this park."
Bryant says the town would like the benefit of getting through the summer first before making any long-term decisions. He noted that local agencies will help to alert traffic on that road of the camp buses during drop-off and pick-up times.
"I think we need to take the opportunity to, as I say, learn from what we're going to be doing to inform whatever follows," he said.
Robbins just hopes that others who attend camp in the future don't miss out on the life-changing experiences they did as a child and teen, including the bus ride.
"Without fail, every year, I'm so excited. I'm like, 'Oh my God, I get to see my camp friends again!'" they said. "It's really great community. And taking away this opportunity is taking away from underprivileged groups who can't get here by themselves."
