A few days ago, fancy new burgundy signs stating the Panhandle's rules and regulations appeared at entrances to the park and near the bathrooms, courtesy of SF Rec & Park.
They state the park's hours, and the prohibitions against smoking, camping, affixing things to trees, and having dogs off leash. They also encourage cleanup of dog waste and other garbage.
The sign at the bathrooms at Ashbury was tagged within 48 hours:
The Panhandle has been mostly free of any signage designating park rules for at least the last 5 years, so we were surprised to see these appear.
As you might recall, the city passed legislation last year to close parks in the city from midnight to 5am in a move designed in part to keep the homeless population from sleeping in the parks. We also reported recently that Park Station delivered a fresh batch of no trespassing signage to the businesses on the retail corridor to keep the homeless population from sleeping in doorways.
Now that both spots are clearly marked as forbidden, it remains to be seen whether the parks or the businesses will see more enforcement.
