Big crowds, no masks led South Beach park to close. After national buzz, it will reopen
A popular South Beach park will reopen Monday morning after the city’s top administrator said he was forced to shut it down by thousands of people who violated a county face-mask rule.
The city of Miami Beach closed South Pointe Park last Monday, after quarantine-weary crowds rushed to the scenic seaside park during the first weekend that Miami-Dade County allowed parks to reopen to the public.
Park rangers issued more than 3,100 face-mask warnings in the five days the park was open.
Parks, golf courses and marinas reopened countywide April 29. The county order requires that park visitors older than 2 years old wear facial coverings unless they are exercising.
Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales, who closed the park under emergency powers granted him by the City Commission, said visitors not wearing masks and big crowds from mainland Miami-Dade County made enforcement of the county’s public health guidelines a challenge.
The closure led to national media coverage, from outlets including The Washington Post and CNN.
Miami Beach Commissioner Ricky Arriola, who has criticized the city for not moving quickly enough to reopen its beaches and tourism-based economy, requested during Friday’s commission meeting that Morales reopen South Pointe Park.
“I’d like to make this park work,” Morales said. “I’d like to give it a shot.”
Park opens 7 a.m. Monday
When South Pointe reopens at 7 a.m. Monday, just one entrance will be open to visitors, and face masks will be required for entry. A detour will be added to the city’s baywalk, which crosses through South Pointe, so that walkers cannot access the park from the walking path.
The park will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays, after park rangers reported increased park attendance last weekend.
At Arriola’s request, the city is pushing back the closing time at its own parks and recreation centers, including South Pointe, to 8 p.m. from 7 p.m. County parks close at 8 p.m.
Parks and centers that the city didn’t reopen, like the 82nd Street Skate Park and the Scott Rakow Youth Center, will remain closed.
To limit crowds at South Pointe Park, the city will ban towels, blankets, coolers and other “picnicking paraphernalia,” said Parks Director John Rebar, who presented a reopening strategy to the City Commission on Friday.
If crowds get out of hand, the city may limit the capacity at South Pointe Park, Rebar said.
“If he wants to take another shot at it, I’m for it, as long as he can roll it back if he needs to,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. “It’s very possible that in two days, the criteria are such that we have to close.”
While Miami-Dade County reopened its parks and recreational spaces on April 29, some cities — like Miami, Hialeah, North Miami and Miami Gardens — chose to keep their parks closed.
Beaches remain closed countywide, but South Pointe offers residents the closest thing to a beach they can find, Rebar said.
“It was their replacement for the beach,” he said.
Request to reopen beaches, pools fails
While Arriola succeeded in convincing Morales to reopen South Pointe, he again failed on Friday to convince even one other commissioner to vote for a resolution requesting Miami-Dade County reopen the beaches in Miami Beach.
“I tried,” Arriola later wrote on Twitter. “Your public officials in the city of MB won’t trust residents on our beaches.”
The city is not legally able to limit its beaches to residents only, Gelber has said. The reopening of the city’s world-renowned beaches is sure to draw interest from residents across the county, especially if other beaches remain closed.
“While I’d love to snap my fingers and go back to pre-COVID times, none of us are doctors or medical experts,” Commissioner Micky Steinberg said.
Commissioner Mark Samuelian, who has been supportive of the city’s efforts to limit the spread of the coronavirus, was also unable to convince a majority of the commission to support a resolution requesting the county reopen shared pools in residential buildings. Seeing that he would lose the vote, he deferred the item to Wednesday’s commission meeting.
During their meeting, commissioners received word that Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez had announced a May 18 target date for the reopening of some businesses after nearly two months of closures.
Morales, the city’s top administrator, presented a “draft” reopening plan Friday morning, and will brief commissioners with an updated presentation on Wednesday.
For now, the city’s two-phase plan for reopening will rely on the widespread availability of contact tracing and surveillance testing, along with a 14-day downward trajectory of the daily percent of positive tests and new hospitalizations in the county. A reopening date was not set.
Retail stores, office space, museums and residential pools will be the first sectors of the city to reopen, Morales said. Stores will be forced to reduce their capacities by 75 percent and close dressing rooms. Masks will be worn at offices. Outdoor chaise lounges at residential pools will be set 6 feet apart.
Restaurants will also reduce their capacities by 75 percent, and the city will prioritize outdoor seating. There appears to be interest among some commissioners to close select roads in Miami Beach, like Ocean Drive, to allow restaurants with sidewalk cafes to extend their seating into the street. A similar policy has been enacted in Tampa.
But until the county acts, the city will remain shuttered.
“We don’t know what the county is going to do yet,” Gelber said.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 6:41 PM.
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