Pinellas County to keep beaches, pools closed

Pinellas County will not reopen beaches or private pools, the County Commission decided in a Thursday virtual meeting.

The closures, which went into effect April 6, will remain in place at least for the duration of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ statewide stay-at-home order, which expires at the end of this month but may be extended.

Commissioners had previously agreed to discuss the issue after hordes of residents complained about the closures and because DeSantis’ stay-at-home order didn’t address the issue, nor did he issue a separate executive order addressing such closures statewide.

However, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri last week said he did not support reopening beaches despite having previously opposed closing them.

Conversation Thursday centered more on private pools at condominiums and apartment complexes. Residents complained by phone during public comment that such closures were unnecessary.

Some argued there were health consequences for keeping the pools closed, especially for residents who use them as a primary source of exercise because it’s low impact.

Some argued social distancing requirements would still be in place.

However, Pinellas County Administrator Barry Burton argued Gualtieri and his staff needed to be able to monitor those situations and doing so with all of those pools open would be problematic.

“The Sheriff needs to be able to respond to problems,” he said.

He described some situations where officials witnessed crowded pool decks and said applying closures in a uniformed manner helped to flatten the curve and “get a handle on what was a public health crisis.”

Pinellas County Commissioner Kathleen Peters argued in favor of reopening pools but halted comments after not receiving support from other commissioners.

The rest of the day’s discussion dealt with reassessing business closures. Commissioners heard from dozens of speakers including several representatives from dog grooming and car washing industries who argued they should be allowed to operate under the county’s order since they are able work without violating social distancing guidelines. The dog groomers said their services have already been deemed essential in several other Florida counties.

Commissioners didn’t have an appetite for making changes, but suggested a workshop to describe the rationale for closures to help increase public awareness and, they hope, reduce the flood of calls from various industries about business closures.

Gualtieri cautioned that if they began making exceptions for all those who made a case, “there would be no stay-at-home order.”