Woodside

Girl Scouts preparing for summer camp blindsided by new Woodside ordinance

A bus that takes the girls to camp is now too long and banned under the new town rule

NBC Universal, Inc.

Girl scouts and their families have a new challenge getting to an annual summer camp in Woodside's Huddart Park.

A new Woodside ordinance means the bus that takes the girls to camp is too long, meaning the vehicle is banned from certain parts of town.

"A lot of our parents rely on that transportation to get their kids to camp," Michelle Myhre Murphy said.

Murphy went to the same Girl Scout camp her daughter not attends. She said the camp just found out about the new ordinance banning buses longer than 35 feet from certain roads, including the road to Huddart Park.

The bus campers take, including Murphy's daughter, is 100% electric, but 39 feet long.

"This is not just us," Murphy said. "This impacts all of the youth that access Huddart Park. We've been there for 75 years, but we're not the only camp that operates.

Now parents are getting involved and worried that the bus ban could mean their kids may not get to go to camp.

"There are so many kids who can use these skills throughout their entire lives, but won't have access to camp if they don't have the buses," said parent Rachel Cyr.

Parents are frustrated they were not told ahead of time about the ordinance and are worried because camp starts in a month.

"I was so excited to pass that onto my daughter too, she's a little go-getter, and I was so excited for her to experience the outdoors like I got to," said Cyr.

NBC Bay Area reached out to Woodside town officials who said they promise to work with the Girl Scouts to make sure they can get to their camp on time using the bus.

Meanwhile, there is a townhall meeting scheduled in Woodside for June 27. The Girl Scouts said they will attend.

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