After parents rally, playgrounds will remain open in California even under new stay-at-home orders.

On Wednesday Dec. 9, the state of California decided playgrounds could remain open even with new restrictions after parents and lawmakers urged Gov. Gavin Newson to reevaluate the latest stay-at-home order, which Monterey County has also adopted and will take effect here at 10pm on Sunday night, Dec. 13. 

The revised guidelines say: “Playgrounds may remain open to facilitate physically distanced personal health and wellness through outdoor exercise. Playgrounds located on schools that remain open for in-person instruction, and not accessible by the general public, may remain open and must follow guidance for schools and school-based programs.”

On Dec. 4, several lawmakers, including Assemblymember Robert Rivas, D-Hollister, sent a letter to Newson urging him to reconsider an earlier decision to close playgrounds in the new orders.

“It is necessary for the mental and physical health of children to have opportunities to expand their physical energy and play,” they wrote. In the letter, lawmakers say low-income families will benefit because they are most likely to have little to no outdoor space available at home. 

After the change was announced, Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, thanked the governor on Twitter: “Every parent knows how important playgrounds are for our youngest Californians.”

Not all local jurisdictions will keep playgrounds open, however, and different cities have differing approaches to the latest update. 

Bryan Flores, a county parks operations manager, says playgrounds that are currently open in county parks will remain open. (They have been open since Oct. 24.)  

In Seaside, playgrounds have been open for about two months. “I think it’s a great idea to keep them open. There are really limited opportunities for kids to have a safe place to play during the pandemic,” Seaside Recreational Director Daniel Meewis says.

He adds that many families live in apartment complexes and may have limited space at home for recreational purposes. The playgrounds have capacity and guideline signs about social distancing, as well as  warning signs stating they won’t be sanitized. They are areas of  “use at your own risk,” Meewis says.  “We didn’t have the funding to continue to sanitize the playgrounds.”

On the contrary, playgrounds in the cities of Monterey and Salinas remain closed.

“I don’t anticipate opening them anytime soon,” Salinas Director of Libraries and Community Services Kristan Lundquist says. “We are focusing on health and safety.”

Salinas is the epicenter of Covid-19 in the county and at least 1 out 2 positive cases are from this city. By contrast, Monterey has less than 2 percent of the 17,157 cases as of Dec. 10. Despite Covid cases being relatively minimal in Monterey, City Manager Hans Uslar said playgrounds will not open as long as transmission rates continue to climb in the area. Neither city has the resources to follow the safety guidelines from the state, officials say. 

Monterey's decision marks a reversal; under earlier guidelines, the city planned on reopening four playgrounds in December.

On Nov. 10, two moms and their kids took down the barriers of the playground located at Schoonover Park in Marina to protest the ongoing closure of some playgrounds in Monterey County.