Berkeley Park Safety

Berkeley features 52 parks that include typical activities including athletic fields, swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, as well as a range of tot and school-age play areas, community gardening, rock climbing, and a range of water sports at the Berkeley Marina.

At some of their lovely parks, you can rent space for a wedding, a picnic place for a family or company picnic, or park or open space for special events.

The upgrades in the park are aimed at providing immediate benefits to park visitors as well as ensuring the park’s long-term viability. Replacement of hazardous play equipment; improvements to parks furniture; improvements to existing playing fields for increased youth sports opportunities; basic infrastructure improvements, such as sports court rehabilitation, lighting, eroded walkways, and irrigation system renovations; and the community-based parks mini-grant program.

Berkeley’s parking regulations are governed by both local parking rules and the California Vehicle Code. Section 14 of the Berkeley Municipal Code contains local parking rules and associated fines.

“It is unlawful for any person to park, leave standing, or cause to be parked or left standing any vehicle upon any public street in the City for seventy-two or more consecutive hours,” according to the city code.

Regardless of other parking designations or restrictions, the “72-Hour Rule” applies to every public street in the City.

Changes to Parks and Recreation Services: COVID-19 During the Health Officer’s Shelter at Home Order, various City services are suspended to limit the spread of COVID-19 among the public and employees. All necessary services are still available.

All 66 of the city’s playgrounds are now open, but everyone should exercise caution because high-touch shared surfaces and crowd gathering areas are still possible virus transmission points.

At playgrounds, these dangers are always present, especially during flu season. COVID-19, on the other hand, requires additional care because there is no vaccine or cure.

Anyone using these playgrounds – or any park, campground, or public facility in California – should follow the following state guidelines:

• If you’re over the age of two, wear a face mask/covering.
• Use playgrounds only if you can keep 6 feet away from anyone who isn’t a member of your family or stay within a capacity restriction.
• Consider scheduling your event at a less-busy period.
• When you’re at the playground, don’t eat or drink anything.
• Hands should be washed or sanitized before and after use.
• If you’re over 65 or have underlying health issues, stay away from playgrounds entirely because you’re more likely to contract COVID-19.

Come prepared to do your part, which may include leaving if crowds form. These are unsupervised areas. Each parent and guardian will need to do their part. Everyone should be aware of these rules, particularly the masks, half-hour limit, and distance, and be prepared to leave if crowds form.

In the event of a crowd, parents should arrive at playgrounds with a backup plan for an alternate destination.

These playground openings are made possible by declining rates of daily COVID-19 cases as well as testing positivity, metrics that allow both the City and the County, as independent health jurisdictions, to open these facilities.

Since the City and County entered this less stringent state tier on Tuesday, City Parks, Recreation, and Waterfront staff have worked to personally inspect all 66 of the City’s playgrounds. They began at 4 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16.

As activities begin, take proactive steps to reduce your risk. Three questions should be asked to assess the risk of any public activity: Where are you going? Who will be there? What will occur? These questions should also assist you in avoiding confined spaces, crowds, and close contact with people who are not members of your household.

Rather than participating in all public activities, budget your risk by prioritizing which ones are most important and avoiding others.