A popular park in Palo Alto is proving too popular.
Because of that, parking fees and attendance limits are being proposed.
We’re talking about Foothills Park, which, for years, was open only to residents of Palo Alto. The park opened to everyone last month with a limit of 750 people at any given time, a move that brought in an abundance of foot and vehicle traffic.
"That initial opening period, December 17 through January 2, we experienced approximately six times the number of visitors compared to the number of visitors in 2019," said Palo Alto Community Services’ Darren Anderson.
That means six times as much trash and six times as many visitors tromping on fragile wildland hillsides in this large, expansive park.
"There have been some impacts to the natural areas of the preserve, most notably where people were walking in natural areas and creating new social trails," Anderson said.
To counter the park’s popularity, a $6 entrance fee and a limit of just 400 visitors at any one time is being proposed, considerably less than the historic limit of 1,000 in the preserve. An emergency ordinance will be considered next week.
Currently, the park closes to all vehicle traffic between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. once the 750-person capacity is reached, as is often the case on weekends. That was the case this past Monday as many had the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
However, that doesn't deter visitors.
Many opt to park in the adjacent neighborhoods instead.
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