Palm Coast and Flagler Beach governments are reopening a few of their more passive parks, trails and other outdoor amenities Monday while keeping major parks closed and maintaining a strict focus on safety and social distancing.
Flagler Beach is considering a cautious reopening of the pier in the next week or two, with initial allowances only for those holding pier passes, City Manager Larry Newsom said Saturday. Flagler Beach intends to reopen tennis and pickle ball courts in the meantime, and allow limited use of some walking trails, but not active parks and pavilions. The boardwalk on either side of the pier would remain closed.
“During normal times, the Department of Health-Flagler encourages going outdoors, getting fresh air and exercising for our physical and mental health,” said Bob Snyder, who heads th local health department. “The opening of our beautiful trails for walking, biking and running is welcomed news. The benefits of exercise can be practiced even while practicing social distancing during these challenging times.”
The two cities’ moves are part of the very cautious Phase 1 reopening of communities within safety parameters dictated by the coronavirus emergency, and reopening frameworks issued by the federal and state governments and adapted to local characteristics.
“If anybody wants to get this city back together and move things forward, I can tell you, all you have to do is talk with our city’s elected officials, they really want to do it, but it has to be methodical,” Newsom said.
Regarding the pier, he said, which has been closed for almost six weeks, “we’re going to take a hard look at it this week, and see what we can do, we may have to close off the very end of it.” New walk-on passes will not be issued. Fishermen who want to use the pier will be given a set of recommendations. They are expected to maintain social distances simply because of the nature of their activity. “At this point in time what I want to do is actually allow the people who actually have a pass to walk out there,” Newsom said.
“We do encourage people to get outside and enjoy this beautiful weather. It is beautiful,” he said. But the success of the gradual reopening will depend on two things: residents and visitors abiding by distancing recommendations, and the department of health’s numbers. “If we start getting a large peak in Flagler County, I’ll be honest with you, it’s going to force us to go backward,” Newsom said.
Flagler Beach opened its city-owned, privately run nine-hole golf course at the south end of town late last month.
In Palm Coast, The following parks and their respective trails will open starting Monday, May 4. Hours will be reduced to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All restrooms, playgrounds and pavilions will remain closed.
- Bird of Paradise Nature Preserve
- Central Park in Town Center
- Graham Swamp
- Heroes Memorial Park
- Hidden Lakes Trail
- Long Creek Nature Preserve
- Palm Coast Linear Park/St. Joe Walkway
- Waterfront Park/Intracoastal Waterway Trail
The following recreational amenities and active sports parks to include the basketball, tennis, and pickleball courts remain closed.
- Belle Terre Park
- Community Center Park
- Indian Trails Sports Complex
- James F. Holland Memorial Park
- Ralph Carter Park
- Seminole Woods Neighborhood Park
- Palm Coast Aquatics Center
- Palm Coast Community Center
- Palm Harbor Golf Course
- Palm Coast Tennis Center
- All public restrooms, park pavilions, and playgrounds
Please continue to recognize the following guidelines in parks and along trails:
- Social distancing
- Maintain crowds of less than 10
- Wear cloth masks or face coverings whenever possible
- At-risk individuals should stay home
“I sincerely appreciate our residents’ patience and partnership in getting to this point,” said Mayor Milissa Holland. “We all play a role in the health of our community and we will all get through these unprecedented times together. I know how much our residents enjoy our amenities and I look forward to seeing them out there.”
“I encourage people to enjoy the beauty of our parks and trails in Palm Coast, to get some exercise and to experience the wonderful spring weather we’re having, but please observe all the guidelines that are in place to prevent the spread of Covid-19,” said Dr. Stephen Bickel, Medical Director for the Flagler health department. “It’s very important that we maintain our vigilance—this battle is not over.”
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Don Brown says
For the life me I can’t understand why Palm Harbor golf course isn’t open. The golf course is probably the safest
environment to be.
Regulator says
Let me see if I get this right. Only people with passes are going to be allowed on the pier . Not cool, not cool at all.
BMW says
Still perplexed how Flagler Beach opened the beach to thousands this weekend with not one bathroom available. Businesses could not provide facilities and people were using the Knight John Boy in the new home building site by my home. Someone needs to step to the plate and figure this out before next weekend.
aesterly Esterly says
There were several people using/occupying the Boardwalk Saturday afternoon, no one seems to enforce the closure.
Sherry says
I’m with Mr. Leonard Pitts:
Someday, I’m going to die.
This, I grudgingly accept. I have no idea how it’s going to happen. Maybe I will die of having a tree fall on me, of eating tainted shellfish, or of being struck by lightning. But this much I guarantee. I will not die of having wagered my life that TV carnival barkers, political halfwits and MAGA-hat-wearing geniuses know more than experts with R.N.s, M.D.s, and Ph.D.s after their names.
In other words, I will not die of stupid.
Not that there aren’t plenty of opportunities to do so. Indeed, in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic and the question of when and how the nation’s economy should be reopened, we seem to have tapped the U.S. Strategic Stupid Reserve. The result has been a truly awe-inspiring display of America’s matchless capacity for mental mediocrity.
Surveys show, for instance, that a solid majority of Americans (63 percent according to a CBS News poll) are more worried about reopening the country too fast and worsening the pandemic than opening it too slowly and worsening the economy. Yet a noisy minority of protesters is furious at government for trying to keep them healthy. They demand their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of acute respiratory distress.
Meantime, there’s Dr. Phil, opining on Fox “News” that “45,000 people a year die from automobile accidents, 480,000 from cigarettes, 360,000 a year from swimming pools, but we don’t shut the country down for that.” Turns out he’s off a smidge on the number of drownings, which is actually fewer than 4,000. And who knew swimming pools, car accidents and cigarettes were contagious?
Then you have governors like Brian Kemp of Georgia and Ron DeSantis of Florida rushing to reopen their states in defiance of medical advice. “COVID-19 is not here, bro,” one surfer assured a Jacksonville TV news crew. Doesn’t that take a load off your mind?
And let’s not forget Las Vegas, where Mayor Carolyn Goodman went on CNN to demand the reopening of casinos, suggesting her town could be a “control group” to find out if social distancing works — the gambling capital playing craps with the lives of its own people. Not that Goodman would wager her own life. Asked by Anderson Cooper if she would visit the reopened casinos, she demurred, saying she has to get home to her family.
But here’s the thing. There’s been a lot of talk over who has the power to reopen America’s economy. Well, it doesn’t belong to the president, nor to the governors. It doesn’t even belong to business owners. No, ultimately, it belongs to me. And to you. It belongs to us, as consumers.
After all, the president and the governors can issue all the orders they want, the owners can remove all the padlocks, but none of it matters if customers are too afraid to walk back through the doors. And I am. I have no idea how many consumers I represent, but I suspect it’s more than a few.
I get that businesses are suffering. But I refuse to eat in a crowded restaurant, sit in a packed movie house or fly on a full flight again until I feel I can do so safely. And I am emphatically not assured by TV carnival barkers, political halfwits and MAGA-hat-wearing geniuses.
No, I need to hear from serious, credible people. I need to know sufficient testing has been conducted and that they feel the virus is no longer a threat. If other people want to die of stupid, I can’t stop them. But if America wants its economy back — this part of its economy, at least — it better do whatever is necessary to persuade Dr. Anthony Fauci it’s time to give the all-clear.
Look for me two weeks after that.
Leonard Pitts is a columnist for The Miami Herald
wakeup says
first: using someone’s porta toilet on a private construction site is illegal.
second: what happened to stop the coronavirus, anyone thinking this is over is wrong. there was so much non compliance with social distancing in a Flagler Beach, it’s keeping the rest of us doing the right thing, stuck home because of others,
third: polluting the ocean in place of bathrooms – another whole issue.
no ones thinking….
no one really cares about anyone but themselves….even in Flagler Beach
Phelps says
Its disappointing that they aren’t re-opening skateparks, the youth are restless. this begs the question on while the skateparks are closed, maybe they should re-model the Rymfire skatepark so it isn’t all of 3 ramps that are riddled with rust and a general hazard.