All Sonoma County parks ordered closed to slow coronavirus spread

foothills-regional-park
foothills-regional-park

Sonoma County’s interim public health officer ordered the closure of all parks in Sonoma County to further enforce the county’s shelter-in-place order aimed at slowing the spread of coronavirus. The closure, announced late Monday evening, goes into effect March 24 and remains in effect until further notice.

According to a news release, the closure applies to all parks and open spaces in Sonoma County, including city, county, state and federal parklands and recreational lands operated by private groups and nonprofits. This includes both the Sonoma County Regional Parks system and Santa Rosa City Parks.

The order comes after parks, trails and beaches countywide were crowded with visitors during the initial days of the shelter-in-place orders issued by the county and state. Parking areas and surrounding roads were filled with cars, and visitors gathered on trails, in parking areas, at picnic sites and in other common areas, despite orders to practice social distancing outdoors.

“Closing parks is a difficult decision, but it is the right decision at this time,” said Dr. Sundari Mase, the county’s interim health officer. “Allowing crowded conditions in parks is not in our best interest during this health crisis. The best action we can take is to stay close to home and limit our outdoor time to our yards and neighborhoods.”

Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order March 18, aligned the state with orders issued in the nine Bay Area counties.

“We know that spending time outside is essential to our health, but too many people using the parks makes social distancing difficult,” said Susan Gorin, Chair of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors. “We all need to follow the health order and stick close to home for our outdoor activities. If we change our actions now, we slow the spread of this disease sooner than later.”

If visitors continue to park on surrounding streets and walk into parks, rangers will work with local law enforcement to restrict off-site parking. Sonoma County’s shelter-in-place order limits activity, travel and business functions to only the most essential needs.

“We hoped the parks could be an essential resource, but we can’t support the type of use we saw during the first days of the shelter-in-place order,” said Bert Whitaker, director of Sonoma County Regional Parks. “We thank everyone who tried to use the parks safely, but we need to do more to protect our community. Let’s get through this emergency knowing we’ve done all we can to keep each other well.”