By a unanimous vote, the Point Arena City Council has enacted a temporary ordinance closing the Point Arena Pier and Arena Cove due to public health and safety concerns from the spread of the COVID19 virus. The Council will review the ordinance within the next 31 days.
The City Council found that continued parking and loitering at the Arena Cove parking lot and on Point Arena Pier poses a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare of the residents of the City of Point Arena and that adequate regulation was necessary.
“Our number one priority is to make decisions that ultimately benefit the health and welfare of the people in our community,” Mayor Scott Ignacio said, “We hope that implementing these measures now will shorten the time it will take for our businesses and our public areas to reopen.”
The Ordinance is twofold:
- Loitering or remaining in the parking lot, on the pier, or other outdoor premises adjacent to the parking lot or pier without any apparent business purpose — such as commercial fishing — is prohibited until further notice.
- The parking of vehicles at the Arena Cove parking lot is prohibited, unless related to the activities of commercial fishermen, Arena Cove businesses, or vessels that have paid parking privileges. This includes all automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, scooters, vessels and any other motorized vehicles.
The City Council will review the ordinance within 31 days for its continued appropriateness.
The County received its first positive test for COVID-19 on the South Coast in Gualala at a visitor-serving facility. Despite the County Public Health Officer’s Shelter-In-Place Order of March 18, 2020 and follow-up letter of March 19, 2020, the South Coast has seen an influx of visitors from outside the area including at Arena Cove.
On March 24, 2019, the County Public Health issued an updated order that limits the use of parks in the County to those that are accessible by walking and biking from one’s place of residence.
