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05/14/2020 12:00 AMWith warmer weather here to stay and more residents seeking seasonal diversions, Parks & Recreation Department staff will this weekend begin to monitor Jacobs Beach as the town prepares to potentially limit the number of people allowed into the park in accordance with social distancing measures.
Parks & Recreation Director Rick Maynard said that while the town won’t begin charging to visit the beach until Memorial Day weekend, four staff members will monitor the area this weekend and provide first aid or other assistance to visitors, while also keeping an eye on crowd sizes.
The town has no plans to open Lake Quonnipaug to the public, Maynard said, due to its much smaller size and the larger crowds that tend to congregate there.
Maynard emphasized that while the town had seen no significant violations of social distancing at the beach, mathematically, the space can only support so many people before it is impossible for visitors to properly social distance.
“We have to figure a maximum capacity,” he said.
What that capacity is exactly has yet to be determined, and closing the beach won’t be based just on the number of cars in the parking lot, according to Maynard, which is not an accurate measure of crowding. He pointed out that people often park to take their kayaks out on the water, and that a single car can sometimes represent only one beachgoer, and other times many more.
“People might drive down there and see the parking lot isn’t full, but we’re telling them they can’t come in,” Maynard said. “It’s not what’s in the parking lot, it’s how many are on the beach that are safely distancing.”
Though they will be available at the beach, residents are strongly encouraged to buy beach passes online, Maynard said, to prevent the kind of face-to-face interactions and handling of cash at the beach that can put both parks staff and residents at risk of exposure.
He said he had recently participated in a virtual conversation that included elected leaders from other shoreline towns along with state officials where the issue was discussed. One first selectman on that call said that they had calculated 113 square feet per person as being necessary for proper social distancing on beaches, Maynard said.
The town is still working out exactly what procedures or restrictions will be put in place, Maynard emphasized, with nothing set in stone at this point and any closure being a “judgment call,” according to Maynard. It is possible that following Memorial Day, the beach will be fully staffed seven days a week if the town determines that is necessary, he said.
Purchasing beach passes will also be very different this season for those who want to buy them as they drive up to the beach, Maynard said. Staff members will use baskets on the ends of poles to take cash or cards, and to return change, receipts, or passes.
To avoid both the inconvenience as well as the potential risks of this process, Maynard encouraged residents to go online and buy their passes through the Parks & Recreation Department website www.guilfordparkrec.com.
Seasonal beach passes for residents are $70, or $25 for seniors.