To our valued community members,
We have received several messages about gatherings in parks and would like to reassure our community that safety is our utmost priority.
Though we have recently reinstated some recreational programs, in compliance with the Sacramento County Public Health Order guidelines, all programs have implemented social distancing and sanitation measures. However, we are aware that some members of the public may be using our parks and facilities in a way that does not comply with social distancing. Our staff has made every effort to remind the public of closures and social distancing requirements. We have placed signage throughout parks, including on playgrounds, posted on social media and on our website, and even tried to safely remind park users in person. In addition, we continue to keep some park amenities closed to encourage social distancing and reduce the amount of shared surface areas. While we urge the public to follow the Sacramento County Public Health Order, enforcement is the responsibility of individuals and the community. We all must help each other help ourselves.
In addition to these measures, we halted field rental permits back in March. All 40 parks and facilities within our District require a permit to use our sports fields (this includes many open grass areas). Our leadership team is informed every time a group is practicing unsafe gatherings, or even going as far as hosting formal practices or games in our parks. We work to determine which group(s) these are and inform them of the County's Public Health Order and our implemented safety precautions. Any groups who choose to disregard the public health order, will not be issued future permits from CRPD and any existing permits will be pulled.
We appreciate our community's patience with these infractions and hope that our residents understand the challenge this presents to our park services staff. We do not have park rangers, and thus, only our park maintenance staff is out at each park, able to witness the gatherings. During a normal workday, our team members must service over 40 parks and facilities. While they are accomplishing various tasks that keep our parks safe and green, they may not have the time to remind users of the County's Public Health Order in person. Beyond this, we never want to put our staff in harms way. If staff has approached the group(s) and any member of the group was aggressive, we ask staff to walk away.
Rest assured, we will continue to do our best to educate the public about the County's Public Health Order while maintaining the safety and efficiency of our staff. We hope our community can support us by understanding that staff is working diligently to accomplish and work through the many, rapidly evolving tasks and changes in District operations.
We encourage residents to only visit parks/facilities where they feel comfortable, continue to practice social distancing, wear a face covering and wash hands often – help us help our community by leading by example.
We are very grateful for our community's continuous feedback and care for our parks.
Thank you, again, for your patience during this time. Take care.
