The Port of Hood River owns and operates several recreational sites on the Hood River waterfront, including the popular windsurfing and kiteboarding beach known as the Event Site. Over the weekend of July 11-12, the Event Site became heavily crowded, prompting the Port to implement new restrictions on parking at the site. Originally planned to begin Saturday, July 18, these measures will now begin Friday, July 17 due to excessive crowding at the site.
Excessive crowding and non-compliance with social distancing and masking rules have also forced the closure of the popular Nichols Basin dock area on Friday. These measures will remain in place until further notice and the Port will continue to assess the occupancy and crowding of the various recreational sites on the waterfront and may take further action to close parks and open spaces due to crowding.
Additionally, Oregon Governor Kate Brown’s new statewide rule requiring everyone to wear masks in outdoor areas whenever 6 feet of social distancing is not possible goes into effect on Wednesday, July 15.
Beginning Friday, July 17 the following operational changes will begin at the waterfront:
- Lot 1 will be closed to all vehicle parking.
- The Event Site parking lot will close when the Port determines the area’s “COVID capacity” has been reached. This will be determined not just by available parking spaces, but also crowding and the total number of people at the site. When the lot is closed it will remain closed until Port staff determines there is available capacity. This review will occur hourly.
- The parking spots along the south curb of the Event Site parking lot will be coned off and not available for parking.
- Nichols Basin boat dock is closed.
Waterfront Manager Daryl Stafford sent an email to local watersports groups on Tuesday urging them to share the information with their members and encourage them to:
“Explore different locations on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to reduce the number of park users. The Hook, Marina Beach, Hatchery, Rowena, Dougs, Swell City, Viento, and several locations east of Hood River are excellent choices. Let visitors know that there may not be parking available at the Event Site and that they should plan accordingly so they aren’t bummed out when they get here. When you are at the Event Site or any beach for that matter, spread out! This means gear as well. Try early or late. Mid-day is just too busy.” Finally, Stafford urged all watersports organizations and businesses that rely on the Event Site to “Support these efforts. We are trying our best to keep the Waterfront open for recreation.”
For more information, contact Daryl via email to waterfront@portofhoodriver.com.