Good day colleagues:
I am interested on what agencies have park hours that are based around a 'dawn to dusk' model. The City of San Luis Obispo has utilized a standard 5am - 10pm park hours and include in our municipal code that it is unlawful to be in a park between 10pm - 5am daily. This works well for some of our parks that have evening activities supported by overhead lighting, such as softball fields, skate park, tennis and basketball.
For the parks that don't have these types of lit amenities, I am contemplating taking a proposal to our Parks & Recreation Commission for discussion of advising to have a 1-hour before sunrise to 1-hour after sunset hours of operation (this is what we utilize for our open space trail system (hiking/biking). The majority of our park system is made up of smaller parks that are dark after sunset, yet are allowed to be occupied until 10pm. I think you all can read between the lines of the 'why' I am looking into this option. FYI, we do have a no overnight, no camping, no tents language within a few of our muni codes that help with enforcement, however City staff don't have much authority to enforce unauthorized occupancy until after 10pm (besides citing for any illegal smoking, alcohol, drugs uses).
I am in the exploratory phase right now and also understand that this could be a challenge with consistent education and enforcement as some parks will be open until 10pm in order to support recreational amenities and programs, and others would be 'closed' 1-hour after sunset. FYI, only 2 parks (out of 24) have a gate that can be closed to the parking lot.
Thanks in advance for any input, advice, and support.
Best,
-Greg
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Greg Avakian
Director
City of San Luis Obispo Parks & Recreation Dept.
San Luis Obispo CA
(805) 781-7120
gavakian@slocity.org------------------------------