AnonymousUpdate by an edhat reader
Below is the latest update from SB City’s Parks and Rec department but keep in mind playgrounds are open county-wide since being in the Red Tier:
Our playgrounds are open!
Because Santa Barbara County has moved into the Red Tier level of reopening, we’re happy to say we were able to reopen all 22 of our public playgrounds. Here’s what you need to know:
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Opening hours: Playgrounds are open during normal park hours. For most playgrounds, normal park hours are sunrise to a half hour after sunset, seven days a week.
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Wear a mask: Everyone two years old and older must wear a mask covering their face.
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Maintain distance: Maintain physical distance of six feet between individuals from different households and prevent crowding of children.
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Playground occupancy: To maintain social distancing, each playground will have a designated number allowed in the active play space at any one time.
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No food or drink: No food or drink are permitted on the playground.
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Wash hands: Wash or sanitize your hands before and after you visit.
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Plan ahead: Visit a playground at different times or days to avoid crowds and waits (peak hours tend to be weekday afternoons and weekends from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.).
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Know when to stay home: Elderly individuals and people with underlying medical conditions should avoid playgrounds when others are present.
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Share our space: To avoid crowding and allow everyone to use this space, please limit your visit to 30 minutes when others are waiting.
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No organized groups: Organized groups as well as groups of non-related families are not permitted to congregate and use the playgrounds.
What should you bring?
Before you set off for the playground, bring a mask for everyone 2 years old and older. If you can, bring hand sanitizer and/or disinfecting wipes with you.
How many people can visit each playground?
The maximum occupancy varies for each playground, and signs will be posted at each. http://bit.ly/SBPlaygroundCapacities2020
How will we be enforcing rules?
Playgrounds will not be staffed, but park rangers will be stopping by as part of their normal daily rounds. If you need to reach a park ranger, call the ranger line at (805) 897-1941. If you have a less urgent question for us, you can ask on our Facebook page at http://facebook.com/sbparksandrec or send an email to ParksAndRec@SantaBarbaraCA.gov.
Please remember that following the rules listed above is vital to keeping parks and playgrounds open during this phase of our pandemic reopening. We’ll be depending on you to use the honor system and use your best judgement about whether or not a playground visit is right for your family.
What about disinfecting the playgrounds?
Since it is not feasible to clean playground surfaces on a regular basis, if you are concerned about your child touching a high-touch playground surface, please make sure every member of your group washes their hands or uses hand sanitizer before and after each playground visit.
Why are we reopening playgrounds now?
One of the most common questions we get lately is “when will the playgrounds open?” and we agree that playgrounds are important to children, especially now. Opportunities for unstructured play outside the home can be few and far between because of the pandemic, so we are grateful that the State of California and the Santa Barbara County Department of Public Health have determined it’s safe to open our playgrounds back up.
By an edhat reader
I saw this news release from CA Public Health- does this mean SB/Goleta area playgrounds can open?
What doesnt make sense to me is the constant discrediting of experts that are trying to save lives. its doesnt make sense to expose children that then expose adults to a virus we have no protection against yet. Its like everyweek people think its over and this is done. Fucken christ, can any of you stick to something longer than a week? Its for the betterment of everyone……ohhh wait theres the issue, thinking about everyone else.
PSTARSR – the experts are allowing things to open up again. Why would you discredit their professional opinions?
Ummm… the experts literally just did open things up in SB. Pstar is advocating to wait till some unnamed expert agrees with all the other experts AND then will say it’s ok. The rest of us will follow the experts and… well… go play!
Send em out, these kids need to play. Adults can wear masks and stand avways apart.
Ptstar types will always want to sit around for a forever lockdown. And they can. But the rest of us need to get out, especially kids.
That’s great! Now, when can kids play competitive sports? The skills clinics are great, but the rationale for not allowing games/tournaments (even between local teams) doesn’t make sense anymore.
Butterfly is correct. The others cherry picked points. If it was safe for inter regional sports where two teams would compete….. we woukd be already through this! The experts have NOT opened inter regional sports tournaments and games wheres masses of people congregate to share spit and watch sports. Not sone unnammed expert! Conmon sense
My type? The type that believe in science and facts! My kind unite! I go to work everyday to make ventilator parts for this pandemic! Man i wish i could choose who gets them!
PSTARSR I’m not taking about “inter regional” sports tournaments with “masses” of people. I’m taking about youth sports leagues with teams from the same town playing each other with parents standing distanced and with masks. What they’re doing now is EXACTLY the same, but just not keeping score or playing other “teams.” I have a feeling you know nothing about youth sports, so I won’t waste my time any further.