Bay Area: Golf courses, car washes, nurseries lead way toward normal
The first baby steps in the long process of reopening began Monday in six Bay Area counties, where about 7 million people were given the goahead to once again pound nails, wash their cars, mow the grass and tee off at the local golf course.
Bay Area residents are still required to shelter in place until at least May 31, but on Monday construction and other outdoor businesses, such as plant nurseries, car washes and flea markets, were allowed to reopen as long as they maintain a
6foot cone of safety between people.
Quite a few people emerged like pupae from their home cocoons to take advantage of the loosened restrictions, which health officials announced last week for people living in Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo, Santa Clara, San Francisco and Marin counties and the city of Berkeley, which has its own health department.
It was a day of reckoning for many a golf swing at the newly opened courses around the bay.
“I feel like I’m a human being again,” said Travis Robinson of San Francisco, who was attempting to get his swing back in order Monday at the Presidio Golf Course driving range.
The new rules meant contractors like Clayton Timbrell could rehire employees and reopen eight San Francisco home renovation projects he had to put on hold March 17 when shelterinplace orders were issued. Timbrell said 39 of his 45 employees were back on the job, but several had left the Bay Area to shelter in place elsewhere, and one was uncomfortable returning during the coronavirus pandemic.
“If this had gone on to June, starting up again would have become more complicated,” said Timbrell, referring to the possibility of more employees relocating and people seeking other jobs.
He is now mostly concerned about finding dust masks, which used to come with lumber deliveries and are now scarce.
“I have my mother handsewing masks that we are providing to people who don’t have them,” he said.
Tim Paulson, the secretarytreasurer of the San Francisco Building Trades Council, called the new health directives “a victory for construction workers.”
The giddiest folk Monday weren’t wearing tool belts but golf attire in the Presidio, where 400 people took to the links.
“Everybody’s really happy,” said Don Chelemedos, managing director of the course. He now requires golfers to sanitize their balls and pull golf hole cups out and pour the balls out instead of reaching inside to retrieve their balls.
Some golfers were wearing masks. Others weren’t. Masks are required at checkin, but are voluntary on the course, Chelemedos said, because public health officials don’t require them during outdoor exercise.
At the driving range, every other spot was blocked off so golfers had extra space between them.
“It’s a really beautiful thing after a month of being at home,” said Fatah Moussammi, of Albany, frowning at the memory of how he had to practice his swing in his garage.
Bobbe Sabella lugged two jugs of hand sanitizer to the clubhouse as a donation before her tee time and then gazed toward the green grass and listened to the glorious sound of clubs thwacking balls.
“It’s the safest sport in social distancing,” Sabella said. “So I’m happy to have it back.”
Monday was also a good day for a visit to a newly reopened car wash. Fernando Gomez, 44, of Sausalito, pulled into the Mill Valley Car Wash to get his “very dusty” car cleaned for the first time in months.
“It feels good to have businesses open little by little, because these small businesses serve the community and they could go under,” he said. “I think life just smacked people with an open hand, and we are all learning many things. I’ve learned to appreciate everything and not take things for granted, even the simple things like a car wash.”
A lot of car washes apparently chose not to reopen because most people still aren’t driving as much, giving them little need for a clean vehicle.
Luca’s Car Spa in Dublin resumed its mobile operation, but in an effort to avoid touching too many surfaces and possibly transmitting the coronavirus, the company’s boutique onsite car wash, with a starting price of $79, was doing only vehicle exteriors.
More changes could be coming this week. Gov. Gavin Newsom said at a news conference Monday that he would issue guidelines that would allow stores in counties where health officers certify the spread of the virus has been controlled to sell clothing, books, music, toys, sporting goods and flowers — but only through curbside pickup.
All these changes can’t come soon enough for most people.
Bay Area parks are mostly open, but the parking lots are closed, so people have to walk or bike to them. San Francisco’s Recreation and Park Department closed major thoroughfares in Golden Gate Park and McLaren Park to car traffic in an effort to give people more room to get fresh air without crowding too much.
Most public recreation facilities are still closed, including playgrounds, outdoor gyms, climbing walls, picnic areas, dog parks, pools, spas and barbecue areas.
With nowhere to go, not everyone has been sheltering in place as they should. It is not uncommon to see runners, walkers, dog walkers and mothers pushing strollers squeezing by each other on the few bicycle and pedestrian pathways that are still open.
Clusters of young people have been spotted at scenic overlooks, and park rangers have reported people moving barriers to get where they’re not supposed to be. A wellworn trail around a barrier blocking access to the Mill Valley dog park is evidence that pet owners with antsy animals are taking liberties in the dark of night.
Parked cars lined the streets at Stinson Beach this past weekend, to the dismay of the locals who have complained repeatedly about crowds of city slickers enjoying the beach on sunny days.
In San Francisco, crowds clustered closely together at Dolores Park over the weekend, prompting a rebuke Monday from Mayor London Breed.
“Dolores continues to be a real challenge, because we know that on nice days, that is the place to be for many folks,” Breed said. “We’re all adults here. There’s no reason we should have to send in any of our law enforcement to tell people what they should already be doing.” She threatened to close the park if the crowding continued.
San Francisco Police Chief Bill Scott said people have been gathering for “picnics in large groups” at other parks around the city, too.
“Now’s not the time to have large picnics (or) large gatherings, even though the weather is great and everyone is anxious about being in the house,” Scott said. “We have to stay the course and listen to the advice of medical professionals.”
But most people in the Bay Area were doing their part, going out only for essential errands and quenching their overwhelming need for social interaction with cat videos or, in places like Mill Valley, nighttime howling.
“Its good people are getting back to work, but the world may never be the same,” said Kurt Johansen, 68, of Tiburon, as he prepared to reenter his freshly washed black Mercedes SUV at the Mill Valley Car Wash. “There’s too many people on the planet for us to prevent this kind of thing from happening again. We’re just going to have to get used to it.” San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Dominic Fracassa contributed to this report.
Peter Fimrite, Anna Bauman, J.K. Dineen and Kurtis Alexander are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: pfimrite@sfchronicle.com, anna.bauman@sfchronicle.com, jdineen@sfchronicle.com, kalexander@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @pfimrite, @abauman2, @sfjkdineen, @kurtisalexander