Lynda Hopkins Supervisor 5th District - Daily Briefing 4 - 29 -2020
This briefing's big news: parks (in your neighborhood, reachable by bike or foot) are now open.
The new Parks Order isn’t perfect. (As it turns out, nothing in a pandemic is.) But it’s a start. I recognize that not everyone lives within biking or walking distance of a park, and that this order creates equity issues. But our parks & public health experts believe its the safest first step for now. We will continue to monitor our local COVID-19 transmission data and make science-based, data driven decisions to try to restore the activities in Sonoma County that our residents know and love. This isn’t the first Health Order pertaining to parks... and it won’t be the last. We are continuing to work on ways to facilitate community activity while keeping our County safe. Be well, all. ❤️
Here’s the summary:
Sonoma County’s health officer has issued a modified parks closure order to allow residents to walk or bike to parks from their homes beginning April 29, 2020 and until further notice. The order replaces a total parks closure.
Note - this is for County Parks only. State Parks are still under order to remain closed. Therefore Armstrong Woods, for example, is still closed.
The amended order allows people to walk or cycle into their closest parks for basic exercise. Driving to a park is not yet allowed. Sonoma Coast beaches remain closed due to the potential for crowding and challenges with enforcing limited access.
Park use is for walking, hiking, jogging and fishing only. Parking lots, restrooms, playgrounds, picnic areas and sports courts remain closed. Park users must wear face coverings when they come within 6 feet of others.
● The amended closure order restores safe parks access while we continue to shelter near home. By using only those parks we can walk or bike to, we minimize the likelihood of unsafe crowding and limit the potential for non-essential travel.
● The safest thing we can do is stay close to home and limit our exercise to our neighborhoods and nearby parks. Our community is making a tremendous effort to flatten the curve of infections - we must stay the course.
● We miss visiting our favorite parks, but the risk of spreading the virus is still too great to fully reopen. We are confident the health officer will allow us to drive to parks as soon as it is safe, and we will have strategies in place to meter the use of parks and facilitate social distancing.
● We realize not everyone lives within walking or biking distance of a park – but this restriction is only temporary while we shelter near home to protect ourselves and our community. (If you have a disability and need assistance reaching the park near you, please contact your local parks department.)
● If you have a disability and need a reasonable accommodation to access a park near your home during this period of limited opening, please contact your local parks department (or 2-1-1, if not known) to coordinate vehicular access and disabled parking at particular parks. To coordinate disabled access at a Sonoma County Regional Park, call (707) 565-2041.
● Our parks will still be there when the risk has lessened. At that time, we can enjoy all our parks knowing we did everything we could to protect each other.
● Closing or limiting access to parks are not decisions made lightly. They are critical interventions during an unprecedented public health emergency. We know parks are essential to our mental and physical health, and more access will be restored as soon as it is safe.
● Too many people using parks makes social distancing impossible, whether it be on popular beaches, narrow trails, in parking lots, in restrooms or on playgrounds. It also strains the ability of parks staff to keep conditions safe and clean.
● Please continue to do your part. Do not drive to an area near a park and walk in. Parking in park neighborhoods violates the amended order and puts others at risk. If you need a car, the park is too far.
● Let’s be as patient and kind to one another as we can and offer help and support and education to others instead of anger and blame. We are getting through this together, and we are protecting our community’s health together.
Town Halls Coming Up:
Join me for Thursday's live District 5 Facebook chat on my public page here: https://www.facebook.com/supervisorlyndahopkins/
Fire Mitigation - Vegetation Management
Transportation and Public Works (TPW) is in full swing with vegetation management crews cutting down overgrowth along county roads. They respond to your reports requesting vegetation management - so let them know if any county roads near you need attention. Submit a report at SoCo Report It. This is also a great tool for reporting a variety of services needed from TPW. Take a look and submit a service request.
