Mixed Emotions In Mendocino County Over Bay Area Daytrippers Seeking Escape From Shelter-In-Place

FORT BRAGG (KPIX 5) -- It's hard to blame anyone for wanting to get out of the Bay Area, just get away for a day amid the ongoing shelter-in-place. And while people are supposed to be staying home, some are now getting out to places like Fort Bragg, and that is causing some divide among the locals.

"They're trickling in," said Roger Larson, owner of the Cleone Grocery. "There's been out-of-towners coming in, and I noticed it the past week."

Despite efforts to keep crowds out, day-trippers came rolling up the coast last weekend, leaving the town with some mixed emotions.

"Well, it's kind of split down the middle," Hawk Stever said of opinions in and around Fort Bragg. "Half of us need the tourism. It's the only way we're going to keep the money coming, but half of us want to stay safe. We all want to stay safe."

"Unless you're traveling through, or maybe looking for a news story, you shouldn't be here," laughed former mayor and current Fort Bragg City Councilmember Lindy Peters. "That's the way they feel."

Peters says the community is proud to be virus-free and a lot of people think restless visitors from the Bay Area could threaten that.

"Yeah, there's people that don't want people coming here," Peters said "Period."

"We depend on people from out of town," countered Suhail Ahmad, owner of the Surf Motel & Gardens. "If you look around here, you will hardly see anybody staying here."

Ahmad was speaking for the other side of this split. He says the local economy needs outsiders back and staying here - now.

"This town depends totally on tourists," said Ahmad. "That's a lot of jobs, and right now there are not jobs."

It is tricky business, trying to manage the reopening of a community that depends on dollars from outside of the immediate area. Even some of the owners who think people should be allowed to visit worry about too many people.

"If they did open things up this whole place would be crowded," said Larson of the areas around the beaches. "It would be packed. Do we want that?"

"And so you've got this sort of dichotomy of views," Peters said of his town. He has been trying to bridge divides while assisting those struggling amid the economic downturn.

Locals here do understand the desire among Bay Area residents to get away. They do offer one word of caution, however. There isn't much open on the Mendocino Coast for those who do pass through.

"I've got family in the Bay Area," Stever said. "What are they supposed to do? They're kind of stuck down there. But they can't come up here and support themselves because so much stuff is closed, you know?"