Popular California skate park looks like giant litter box to force social distancing
Some people in California who think that social distancing rules don’t apply to them were in for a rude awakening this weekend.
The Los Angeles Department of Parks and Recreation says it was forced to fill the popular Venice Beach skate park with sand in order to keep away those who are failing to abide by the state’s “Safer at Home” order. Now the once-hot meeting area for skaters and parkgoers alike looks like a giant kitty litter box.
Visual journalist Chava Sanchez, sent out there to document the park for LAist.com, said that people who were crowding the area were not following proper social distancing protocol.
“Several groups of people congregated, just sitting around and definitely not social distancing,” he observed, according to LAist. “A good amount of people just hanging out and about without face masks, The parking lots were closed, but there is plenty of street parking. And I saw a lot of people at the beach.”
It was Shacked Magazine, a Los Angeles magazine that covers surfing, that first reported bulldozers near the state park on Thursday.
Photographers documented the workers shoveling sand into the park and took note that workers “were getting all sorts of harassment from a handful of skaters and non-skaters,” according to Shacked Magazine.
“The skate park has been closed for several weeks now due to the stay at home orders, but too many people have been skating it, and just plain hanging out in it,” the outlet reported. “So the Department of Recreation and Parks decided to do more, since the caution tape and signs didn’t work.”
In addition to the Venice Beach state park, crews also filled sand into the San Clemente public skate park, located in South Orange County, according to CBS Los Angeles.
Officials reportedly used 37 tons of sand to keep rebellious skaters at bay, per the TV station, which reported that people had been ignoring the “no trespassing” signs at the park.
L.A. Parks and Rec also warned that if other skate parks were violating social distancing rules, they too would be filled with sand, according to LAist.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 2:55 PM with the headline "Popular California skate park looks like giant litter box to force social distancing."