Parks, trails close in Waterford after enforcement failed to deter crowds, mayor says
The city of Waterford closed two parks on Tuesday because of crowds, lack of social distancing and concerns of the coronavirus spreading.
Mayor Michael Van Winkle said officials asked the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Department to patrol the area and write citations, but enforcement didn’t deter unsafe activities at River Park and South Reinway Park and Trail Head.
While the city deals with issues such as littering, illegal parking and trespassing onto private property near the parks every summer, Van Winkle said they worsened during the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s a tough decision, but it’s putting a huge strain on our city staff,” Van Winkle said. “Our numbers keep rising with COVID. We’re not sure if that’s part of the reason for the spread or not, but it’s wall-to-wall people every weekend.”
Hundreds of people gathered at the parks in the past few months, Van Winkle said, surpassing their capacity. State public health guidelines for outdoor recreation recommend maintaining a 6-foot distance and only meeting with household members. Since March, the county has reported 147 COVID-19 cases in Waterford, a city of about 9,000 people. More than 100 of the infections have been reported in July.
Parks and recreation staff have also spent hours picking up beer cans and other trash along the trails, City Manager Mike Pitcock said, and it became too much. After meeting with Van Winkle on Monday, Pitcock posted the closure announcement on Waterford’s Facebook page.
“We’re hearing a lot of people that are very unhappy with that, especially with the gyms being closed,” Pitcock said. “But it’s one of those things that we felt we need to make a clean cut, close everything, try do do a reset and we’ll try it again maybe in September.”
The city plans to reevaluate the closure at the end of August, but Pitcock said crowds may have gathered at the parks because of their free entry and other outdoor recreation options aren’t available. The Frank Raines Off-Highway Vehicle Park near Patterson is closed until October, for example.
This story was originally published July 28, 2020 at 12:30 PM.
