Sonoma County set to allow limited park access in largest change yet to shelter order

Sonoma County residents should be back in their neighborhood parks as early as Wednesday under revisions to a 5-week-old order expected to be unveiled Tuesday, according to Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Susan Gorin.

The much-anticipated revision from Sundari Mase, the county’s health officer, represents the most significant change in local coronavirus rules in about a month, and it was still being finalized Monday.

Gorin and Supervisor Lynda Hopkins said they expected to review it during the regular Tuesday board meeting, with new provisions allowing walk-in and bike-in access to parks near people’s homes taking effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, Gorin said.

County officials said the “soft opening” of city and county parks is meant to provide a safe opportunity for people to get some fresh air and outdoor exercise without undermining the shelter-in-place order that has helped curb the coronavirus outbreak.

Inland state parks such as Trione-Annadel, Sugarloaf Ridge and Jack London would allow similar foot and bicycle traffic, county officials said. But coastal beaches and parks, including popular Doran Beach Regional Park and Sonoma Coast State Park, will remain closed at the county’s behest.

“When Sonoma County made the decision to close regional parks, the state followed suit to ensure consistency and advance a hard closure of state parks,” state Sen. Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, said Monday. “So the bottom line is this: The state’s goal is always to align with the local goal.”

County officials have voiced hesitance over fully opening the Russian River to recreation, and they would they would not say before Tuesday how the order would address that.

As of Monday, the county’s proposed parks order would require visitors to use only those sites or off-street trails nearest their homes and accessible on foot or by bicycle, officials said.

Parking lots would remain closed, though some arrangements are being made for disabled visitors to be able to drive to certain parks, county officials said.

Playgrounds, picnic areas and restrooms and other high-touch spaces also would be off-limits.

The imperfect move withholds park access from coastal residents and would prohibit those who don’t live anywhere near a park from driving to one. But officials said it serves as a starting point for allowing residents a measure of the old freedoms enjoyed before the coronavirus pandemic limited public movement.

“I think there are no perfect solutions right now,” Hopkins said, “and I think that any path we went down would have its own problems.”

All park visitors would be required to practice social distancing to help prevent coronavirus infection and to wear face covers any time it’s not possible to stay six feet away from others outside of a person’s family or household, officials said.

Mase and Regional Parks Director Bert Whitaker declined to offer further details Monday given the possibility that something still could change before she signs the final order.

But Whitaker said he and his staff are bracing for a spike in visitors after more than five weeks of park closures.

“We have a pretty good sense of which facilities we expect to have the highest use levels at and are mobilizing as many of our available resources as we can to be visible in the parks, educating folks, reminding them of social distancing requirements, reminding them they need to bring a mask, and if they didn’t, to go home and get one,” he said.

Whitaker said Spring Lake, Helen Putnam and Foothill regional parks are particularly likely to draw crowds, given “high density neighborhoods around them.”

He urged residents who see lots of people in any park to consider leaving and coming back at a later hour or on another day.

The park staff also will be monitoring parks for areas that are getting the wrong kind of use, or might require temporary fencing to limit access.

“As everyone gets used to the new use patterns, we’ll just be watching it really very closely and making adjustments the best that we can in the parks each day,” he said.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com.