The City of Piedmont announced it would close Linda Beach Playfield at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, July 24, until further notice, citing lack of compliance with the Alameda County Public Health Department’s Shelter in Place orders. (Piedmont Recreation Department programs will continue to have access.)
“Despite repeated warnings from city staff, users of this facility have continued to play group sports in violation of COVID-19 health orders,” the release says. “We regret having to take this action, but the actions of field users have necessitated it. The City will examine when the best time to reopen the field is and announce it at a later date. We understand the inconvenience this will cause to residents, but the continued lack of compliance poses a public health risk and must be addressed.”
The notice also says the city is considering additional enforcement measures of health orders.
On July 14, the city said that more than 60 adults playing soccer without masks or following social distancing rules at Beach field refused to abide by a Piedmont Park Ambassador’s request that they follow safety protocols.
Reminder: Alameda County remains on a state watch list due to the spread of COVID-19. Please wear a mask when in public spaces, limit your social interactions, and keep 6 ft distance from others not in your household.
In my walks through town I have rarely seen anyone not wearing a mask or putting one on immediately upon seeing another person. Additionally folks go out of their way to keep six feet. The issue at Linda was fundamentally the soccer players coming in and playing as if the pandemic is merely a Grimm Fairy Tale. It is not with 160,000+ US fatalities; this is very grim. I believe Piedmonters are complying.
City Staff, Chief Bowers and CA Kenyon are reaching out to the County and other cities to investigate the possibility of a non-sworn team that can issue warnings and citations that would not be a low-level misdemeanor that the Police would issue. The Police have other important jobs to perform and a group of non-sworn folks may be the best solution.
I read that Napa and Marin Counties approved fines of up to $500 for people who refuse to comply with state and local health orders. Could that be put into place here in Piedmont?
What about a form of onsite registration to control the number of people using the field at one time. And, to facilitate issuing citations because the City would then have the participants names and addresses to which to mail the citations. Maybe that form could be formatted as a liability release form combination.
There have been issues with this same group over field use for many years prior to this instance.
It seems that the right solution may be to cite those that do not comply with the health order, and allow others to use the field.