City Reopens West Hollywood Park And Plummer Park

Press release from the City of West Hollywood:

September 9, 2020

The City of West Hollywood is making every effort to respond to community needs during the coronavirus (COVID-19) public health emergency and keeping the health and safety of people in West Hollywood as its first priority. Paul Arevalo, the City of West Hollywood City Manager and Director of Emergency Services, issued a new Emergency Executive Order on Tuesday, September 8, 2020 Implementing Emergency Measures to Order Reopening of City Parks. Full text of Emergency Executive Order 2020-12 is available on the City of West Hollywood’s website (PDF) at https://www.weho.org/Home/ShowDocument?id=48119

Emergency Executive Order 2020-12 establishes the re-opening of West Hollywood Park and Plummer Park to public visitors as follows:

• Park recreation spaces are available for public use by optional reservation. Reservations are available at Plummer Park in the Vista Lawn and Fuller Lawn areas and at West Hollywood Park in the Great Lawn area. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance. Numbered spaces will be outlined in the grass and City staff will be available to assist users’ with finding their spaces. Individuals can book a space for a two-hour block between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. There is no cost to reserve a park space. Park visitors at all City of West Hollywood parks are subject to compliance with park guidelines (listed below). Reservations may be made by visiting the West Hollywood Recreation Park and Facility Reservation system online, Active Net, at https://apm.activecommunities.com/weho. Those wishing to make a reservation must have an Active Net account, which can be easily created at the above link. Individuals will receive a confirmation email when their reservation is approved. For all other City of West Hollywood Recreation programs, please visit www.weho.org/recreation.
• Visitors at Plummer Park and West Hollywood Park may also use non-reserved park areas without a reservation for passive recreation on a drop-in basis. Use of all City parks, whether by reservation or on a drop-in basis, is subject to compliance with park guidelines (listed below) are subject to any other applicable city, county or state requirements.
• Park guidelines are based on the City’s Emergency Executive Order 2020-7 and updated accordingly, along with any other applicable city, county or state requirements:

1. Physical distancing of six feet between groups that are not part of the same household is required. Avoid crowded areas.
2. Organized activities and group fitness classes, yoga instruction, dog training and personal training sessions are not permitted in any city park, including neighborhood parks.
3. Face coverings are required under Executive Order 2020-3.
4. Water fountains shall remain closed. Members of the public are encouraged to bring water from home.
5. Bathrooms remain closed.
6. Visitors shall leave the area clean and remove all personal items and trash before leaving park.
7. Playground and exercise equipment remain closed.

The City of West Hollywood requires face coverings at all times while in public and social distancing rules of at least six feet should continue to be followed, even when outdoors.

The City of West Hollywood aims to safeguard the health and safety of community members. West Hollywood Park and Plummer Park had been previously closed on July 23, 2020 following numerous reports by City staff and the West Hollywood Station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that visitors to these City parks were observed not complying with park rules adopted to curb the spread of COVID-19. At the time of the park closures, approximately 50 percent of park users failed to comply with the City’s face covering requirements and social (physical) distancing protocols and altered and/or destroyed protective barriers intended to keep playgrounds and basketball courts closed. In August 2020, West Hollywood and Plummer Parks implemented a limited by-reservation-only reopening and no drop-in use was allowed.

At this time, neighborhood parks and dog parks at West Hollywood Park and William S. Hart Dog Park remain open, subject to park users’ compliance with face covering and social distancing requirements. Park patrons are subject to Administrative Citation for not voluntarily using face coverings. Balls, toys, and any other shared equipment are not permitted in the dog parks and water stations remain shut off. Additionally, tennis courts at West Hollywood Park and Plummer Park remain open at this time. As with dog parks, City staff and Sheriff’s personnel will closely monitor adherence to requirements. Tennis players not adhering to health and safety protocols are subject to Administrative Citation as well as a one-year suspension of iTennis membership and court reservation privileges.

The City of West Hollywood has had a mandatory face covering requirement in effect since Saturday, May 23, 2020. Full text of Emergency Executive Order 2020-3 requiring face coverings is available on the City’s website (PDF) at www.weho.org/home/showdocument?id=46373. The State of California and County of Los Angeles have also directed the use of face coverings in public.

The City of West Hollywood has declared a local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. When in public, community members should maintain your space with social (physical) distancing of at least six feet, and cover your face to adhere to City, County, and State requirements for the use of face coverings. Face coverings are not required for young children under two-years-old; children between two- and eight-years-old should only wear face coverings with adult supervision; and people with certain medical conditions are exempt from this requirement. Public Health officials recommend that everyone must continue to follow physical distancing and infection control directives and wear a clean cloth face covering that securely covers both your nose and mouth when in contact with other people not in your household.

The City encourages residents to remain home as much as is practical and limit close contact with others outside of a household. Additionally, people 65 years old or older and all people of any age with underlying health conditions should remain at home whenever possible; people in these categories should only leave their residences to seek medical care, exercise, or obtain food or other necessities.

West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and has suspended all in-person transactions. Most public City buildings, playgrounds, and facilities remain closed. City Hall remains accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.

The City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information regarding details in the City of West Hollywood.

To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:

• www.weho.org/wehotv

Meetings can also be accessed via:

• www.youtube.com/wehotv
• Spectrum Channel 10 (in West Hollywood)
• SmartTV Apps: AndroidTV; AppleTV; FireTV; and Roku

For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news. To receive urgent updates to your phone by text and to your email, text your ZIP code to 888-777.

For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States and in Los Angeles County, the spread of the virus, severity, treatments, precautions, and other important public health information in multiple languages, please visit websites for:

• Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

This press release was produced by the City of West Hollywood. The views expressed here are the author’s own.