May 2021 - Parks & Recreation - 48

M I A M I - D A D E C O U N T Y PA R K S

Our community lives an out-ofdoors lifestyle, but in March 2020, as
COVID-19 cases began to rise, county
residents were ordered to stay home.
Only essential businesses remained
open and all parks, beaches and recreational facilities were closed.
Stopping the spread of the virus
was paramount. But, with millions
of people confined to their homes,
the rallying cry for the need for
public open spaces was almost immediate. As the COVID-19 positivity rate spiked, so did stress levels,
and even people who had never
noticed their neighborhood park
began to demand access.
The community awoke to the realization that parks are essential to
health and well-being, and are significant contributors to everyday life.
As park and recreation departments
across the United States rose to meet
needs, communities exerted tremendous pressure to reopen parks.

Miami-Dade Launches a
Plan in Three Phases

PHOTO COURTESY OF ARMANDO RODRIGUEZ/MIAMI-DADE COUNTY

Given the complexity of our park

48 Parks & Recreation

system, Miami-Dade County Parks,
Recreation and Open Spaces (MDC
Parks) set out to rapidly develop a
coordinated and prioritized set of
protocols for how to open parks, as
well as a communications plan to
explain the transition to a " new normal, " bringing people together and
maintaining guidelines mandated
by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC).
Miami-Dade County is a metropolitan region with 2.8 million
residents who enjoy year-round outdoor activities on more than 13,000
acres of open space, which includes
270 community and regional parks,
marinas, golf courses, Zoo Miami,
17 miles of beaches, nature centers
and campgrounds and additional
26,000 acres of natural areas. Additionally, the county's 34 municipalities own and manage hundreds of
park and recreation areas.
MDC Parks quickly established
an expert panel through our Parks
and Open Spaces Workgroup and
convened weekly meetings with
the South Florida Park Coalition

(SFPC), a forum of city, county, state
and federal park agencies that we
had developed a decade ago as part
of the Miami-Dade Parks and Open
Space Master Plan's coordinated vision of sustainability. By April 2020,
Miami-Dade County's leadership
determined that parks could actively
address some of the health impacts
of the sequestered community. The
Florida sunshine and sea breezes enabled open-air activities, with physical
activity programs and access to contemplative spaces for mental health.
Consulting with our Parks Workgroup of physicians and public health
professionals, state and local officials,
organizers of children's programs,
and representatives from the boating, fishing and golfing industries,
we identified activities that could be
safely conducted in each of our parks
and on what schedule. We focused on
marinas and boating activities, as well
as reopening beaches and returning
golfers to our greens. We established
protocols for activities determined to
be safe to ensure the continued reduction in COVID-19 cases and prevent
any rise in new cases.
We created a three-phased
approach. Phase I opened access
to individuals and groups from
the same household to engage in
passive uses that included walking
and cycling on one-way paths,
while wearing facial coverings and
keeping CDC-mandated physical
distances. Groups of 10 people or
fewer from the same household
were permitted to stroll, but shared
equipment
remained
closed.
Phase II established skills and
drills protocols for multiple sports.
Phase III gradually advanced to
full recreational programming with
Youth and staff wear masks and physically distance at EcoAdventures Camp at
A.D. Barnes Park.

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May 2021 - Parks & Recreation

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