Coronavirus Update: Tahoe Area Officials Warn Visitors To Stay Away Or Face $1,000-A-Day Fine
TRUCKEE (CBS SF) -- El Dorado County officials have toughened local shelter-in-place laws to further discourage travelers wanting to escape their hometown lockdown orders with a trip to the Sierra.
Weeks after region's ski resort industry was forced to shutdown in an attempt to halt the spread of the coronavirus, officials said they were still seeing visitors stream into the area. Such travel has been deemed non-essential and prohibited during California's shelter-in-place order.
The El Dorado County Board of Supervisors has unanimously approved an emergency ordinance to issue administrative fines for those who violate the county order regarding travel into the El Dorado County portion of Lake Tahoe.
"The April 3, 2020 Order prohibiting nonessential travel into the Lake Tahoe Basin is punishable as a misdemeanor, yet because inappropriate travel continues to occur, the Board must take more aggressive measures to stem the tide of visitors and others who are traveling to Lake Tahoe," Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, Brian Veerkamp. said in a news release.
The emergency ordinance, which took effect April 14th, allows law enforcement and public health officials to issue a $1,000 a day administrative citation in violation of the travel order.
The enforcement officer must notify the responsible party in writing or by phone. The ordinance gives the responsible party 48 hours to provide written verification of their essential travel need. The responsible party can appeal the citation by requesting a hearing within q1o calendar days of service of the citation.
The ordinance is only applicable in the unincorporated El Dorado County portion of the Lake Tahoe Basin and will end on April 30th. It does not apply to those who are traveling to property they own.
