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Burlington will be taking down basketball hoops in its parks and close tennis courts, dog parks, shelters and playgrounds as the city takes additional measures to ensure social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
Mayor Miro Weinberger said during a Thursday update that the city believed further enforcement steps were necessary to ensure public health. The city is also planning on shutting off some streets to local traffic only to open the streets for bikers and pedestrians.
Along with the parks restrictions, Police Chief Jennifer Morrison said the police department was exploring ticketing those who are not complying with Gov. Phil Scott’s “stay home” order.
In Vermont, 17 people have died from the coronavirus and 338 have tested positive as of Thursday.
Cindi Wight, the director of the city’s Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department, said the new restrictions would prevent activities that do not allow for social distancing. She said that city staff would start taking down hoops and closing other areas Friday morning.
“As a Park and Rec person, I pulled an appendage off today,” Wight said.
Wight said that overall, city residents have been doing a good job social distancing in the parks, but the additional measures were still necessary.
“We will be opening things up in the future, we don’t know when,” she said. “None of us know when, but we are all looking forward to it.”
The Parks, Recreation & Waterfront Department is expanding its park ambassador program to educate park goers about proper social distancing and engage with the public, Wight said.
Weinberger said that a “nontrivial” number of people were willfully not complying with Scott’s “stay home, stay safe” order and were congregating in groups.
Weinberger said that the city has reached the point where it needs to do more to ensure the orders are being followed.
“I know that the disregard that some have shown is something that concerns Burlingtonians greatly,” Weinberger said.
Morrison said that the police department is working with the city attorney to draft an ordinance that would allow the department to ticket people in violation of the governor’s order, and is looking to coordinate that effort with the state.
“There is some cross section that nothing we say is going to get through to, and we need to be prepared to bring a stick, and we’re also working on some carrot options too,” she said. “We’re trying to find a way to get these folks to move away from each other so they are not cross containing households, and keeping the community safe.”
Morrison said officers have interacted with groups of the same people who have been violating the governor’s order. She said that some were young college-aged people but more were young adults.
“They congregate in the downtown area as their form of recreation, and they refuse to follow the information we have provided,” she said.
Starting this weekend, the city will create more open spaces on city streets by limiting some streets to local traffic only, said Chapin Spencer, the director of the city’s Department of Public Works.
The initiative will partially launch this weekend and fully launch the weekend of April 11, Spencer said.
“We’re doing this to encourage safe and healthy recreation, and in part because honestly the bike path has become crowded at times during the pandemic,” he said.
As part of the initiative, parking will be limited on Pine Street between Lakeside Avenue and Maple Street, Spencer said. Pine Street is serving as the bike path detour area as the nearby section of the path undergoes construction.