Sequoia Station Park's Tables Removed

Updated 5:55pm.

Cigarette butts, tossed aside paper cups, blowing newspapers and other garbage forced the removal of picnic tables from Little River Park near Redwood City's well-patronized Sequoia Station shopping center, officials disclosed Monday.

The two tables and their accompanying benches were removed late last week, leading some to wonder if the park should be renamed "Litter River Park."  The grass where the tables were located now has outlines that resemble those marked off for a grave.

"We received several complaints about the people who gather at the park," said Valerie Matonis, the city's park manager. "They created a lot of litter that ended up in the adjacent creek."

Two benches that face the creek are all that's left for the public to use at the small, triangular park, which opened in 2001 as part of the city Beautification Program. The park, located a block from Sequoia High School, fronts one of the main arteries to the shopping center that's jammed between El Camino Real and the heart of downtown Redwood City.  

It was not uncommon to see students and other young people smoking, drinking and eating at the tables, leaving behind garbage despite nearby trashcans, Matonis said.

"They'd just get up and walk away," she said. "No one seemed to want to use the cans. Much of the litter ended up in the water and this is a serious, serious problem.

"Litter is a problem at most parks, but Little River is unique," she said. "It's the only park next to a creek that's a killer to clean up."

Anyone who has volunteered for Redwood City's Clean-up Day in May can attest to the "killer" label. The creek's sides are so sheer it is easy to fall in the water while reaching for trash.

The park was once a source of pride, Matonis said. Just a vacant lot a few years ago, it was turned into the park by several groups that included people in the city's work furlough program.

"It took a lot of work by a lot of people," the park manager said.

A plaque affixed to a rock at the park reads: "Dedicated Nov. 3, 2001 for your enjoyment. Built by the Beautification Committee, Community Volunteers and City Staff."

Save the Bay Concerned

Save the Bay estimated that San Mateo County has 37 trash "hot spots" at rivers, creeks and sloughs. The list includes the Redwood Creek Watershed of which the creek at Little River is a part.

Redwood Creek is one of seven selected Bay Trash Hot Spots Save the Bay "adopted" to clean up in 2011. The sites were chosen based on criteria that included proximity to major transportation corridors, said Stephen Knight, the environmental group's political director, in a September newsletter. 

"Redwood Creek flows though downtown Redwood City and accumulates trash from commercial and residential corridors," he said.

The park, about 31 paces by 65, has only seven trees. Yet it served as an oasis for passengers from the nearby transportation hub that serves buses and trains or shoppers who simply wanted to sit and rest on the tables' built-in benches.

Frequent visitors to the park included Gary Taylor, 64, who had Little River all to himself during his visit on Monday.

"I wondered what happened to the tables," he said, looking up from the newspaper he was reading while seated on one of the benches that overlooked the water.

"I picked up litter here a lot, but it didn't seem to do much good," said Taylor, who was on his way to a meeting. "Doesn't seem kids nowadays are taught to clean up after themselves."