SLO County may close parks, golf courses if visitors can’t keep away from each other
San Luis Obispo County officials are considering closing public parks and golf courses if visitors don’t comply with coronavirus physical distancing orders.
Wade Horton, emergency services director, said on Wednesday that authorities may shut down some county recreation facilities “if non-household units decide to ignore the 6-foot standard.”
County authorities on March 19 enacted a shelter-at-home order prohibiting gatherings outside households. Outdoor activities are permitted, but residents are required to maintain a 6-foot distance from others who don’t live with them.
Authorities may close facilities due to the need to enforce physical distancing, not because visitors may infect each other by touching equipment, which can be sanitized, Horton said.
“Six feet allows you not to get sneezed on or coughed on,” Horton said at a Wednesday news conference. “Six feet is what you need to protect yourself from that. It’s really the ability to maintain that physical distancing.”
Leaders across the county have already closed some public facilities to help curb the spread of coronavirus.
The city of San Luis Obispo on March 19 closed Laguna Lake Golf Course. Pismo Beach on Wednesday announced the closure of the Pismo Pier, although the beach remains open for surfing and short walks.
“Pismo Beach Pier closed as it became too difficult to ensure social distancing,” a post on the city’s Facebook page says.
The Land Conservancy of San Luis Obispo County on Monday closed the Pismo Preserve after visitors failed to maintain a physical distance in the parking lot and on trails.
“We do not want to shut down trails,” Horton said. “We do not want to shut down golf courses. But we will do what we need to do if individuals decide that they don’t want to comply with the physical distancing requirement. For flattening the curve, for this to work, we all need to do our part. These next two or three weeks are critical to flattening that curve. We need to physically distance.”
This story was originally published March 26, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
