Concerns over park access during Easter weekend in Monterey County
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- A notice that county parks will be open for Easter weekend has left some residents adhering to the current shelter-in-place and social distancing order puzzled.
Monterey County Parks, Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District, State Parks and the Bureau of Land Management all announced they planned to be open to the public Easter weekend.
This access allows people to get outside, go on walks, and take out their dogs.
The opening, however, is with limited access and open space. The county says park rangers will be monitoring group size requirements and social distancing orders per the health department at park sites.
The County Chief of Parks Jim Rodems told KION the parks have been open all along, in accordance with the shelter-in-place order, and they are not solely being open for Easter.
“It is all part of the order, which I want to remind people of. And as long as we follow those, there can be safe use of the facilities,” Rodems said.
Group sizes can consist of no more than 10 people and the space between each individual must be at least 6 feet.
“If we do find that there is an issue, we will close the parks,” Rodems said.
The county acknowledges parks draw big crowds on Easter weekend and want to accommodate people with this announcement, but the move has come with criticism.
Some locals think the parks should be closed all together during this time, especially with easter weekend coming up, a time when area residents say there are typically big gatherings and parties at the park.
“I love to see the families engaging in that. I mean, that’s what you want to see in our parks but not right now. Not when we’re all trying to suppress this virus so that we can all go back to work,” Toro Park resident Laura Hair said.
Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo went on social media to say he is asking county parks and staff members to reconsider and to close the parks.
He told KION he plans to ask the county to close the parks altogether until the shelter in place is over, which would be until at least May 3.
“I think for good reason, this is a time when we should continue to stay with that message–encourage people to stay at home. not have large mass gatherings. we encourage people to talk walks around their neighborhood. those activities are positive but we need to have social distancing,” Alejo said.
Fellow county supervisor, Chris Lopez, agreed with taking another look, saying "I believe the 10 person limit is grossly inappropriate and I believe that now we must reverse course on our former position of keeping parks open. "
For now the county's post about parks being open remains active, but both supervisors say they expect to bring up the topic during meetings this week.
