Crowds fill Fresno County parks despite COVID-19 closure

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- In an effort to encourage community social distancing, the County of Fresno Department of Public Works and Planning made the call over the weekend to close all County parks until further notice.

"The intent behind this is to help preserve and protect public health and safety," said Jordan Scott of the County of Fresno.

"We had hoped at the start of these types of closures, from mid-April to the start of May, but really, we have to wait and see how this situation develops and we'll adjust as we need to."

But many are ignoring park closure signs altogether.

Over the weekend, large groups of people could be seen visiting the Lost Lake County Park - some walking right through the closed fencing, others parking in empty dirt lots adjacent to the park.

The challenge for the county is how best to enforce these park closures, either through fines or other types of strict enforcement methods, to ensure everyone's safety.

"You know, it's never something that we want to do. We really want to hope the public will take everybody's best interest to heart and make the right decision," said Scott.

As County parks remain closed for the foreseeable future, City parks will continue to remain open for individuals to enjoy activities such as jogging, walking and cycling with the intention of exercising social distancing.

For more news coverage on the coronavirus and COVID-19 go to ABC30.com/coronavirus