The city of Santa Monica announced Friday that it has been forced to put fencing around the popular Palisades Park to keep the public away from the park, which was closed last week as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
A Facebook posting by the city of Santa Monica said it has “continued to see crowding in the park, making adequate physical distancing impossible.”
“Diverting police officers to patrol the 26.4-acre park for the duration of this emergency is not realistic,” the city wrote in its Facebook posting Friday. “We need every officer to be focused and available to respond to public safety. It also weighs heavily on us to cite individuals because we know many people are unemployed or furloughed.”
The city noted in the Facebook post that installation of the fencing should be complete by early next week and that parking on the west side of the street will be closed to the public.
“While we know that the closure impacts our community, this viral pandemic has created a serious public health threat,” the city added in the posting.
“We look forward to opening it again for all of us to enjoy when we overcome this emergency.”