The City of West Hollywood is cracking down and enforcing social distancing measures to ensure community members are following State and County orders in compliance with Public Health recommendations during the COVID-19 emergency.
The City is issuing social distancing enforcement measures to respond to community concerns about construction crews and park and dog park users. While essential construction is permitted under Safer at Home orders and socially distanced park recreation has been permitted, it is vitally important that all community members adhere to public health orders to stay at home whenever possible and to use social distancing when in public for essential reasons.
WeHo Times received several messages from concerned residents in regards the huge construction job taking place at 652 N La Peer Dr., where Developer Faring has begin the Robertson Lane Project with the dismantling of the historical Factory Building. There were concerns for the construction workers and questions whether the construction was essential during the Stay at Home order issued by Governor Newsom’s Stay at Home directive and LA County Department of Public Health Safer at Home orders.
Photo by Paulo Murillo for WEHO TIMESThe City wants to remind all construction projects that they must operate in accordance with social distancing and hygiene requirements. The City’s Building and Safety Division and Code Compliance Divisions maintain the authority to stop construction work if requirements are not followed. The City’s Code Compliance and Facilities staff will be monitoring community areas and parks/dog parks and will intervene when necessary in order to ensure compliance with public health orders calling for social distancing. Additionally, LA County social distancing orders are enforceable by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and failure to comply is a crime.
“You’re welcome to bring your dog to our dog parks as long as you observe our social distancing rules every time,” said West Hollywood Mayor John D’Amico. “County and State public health orders have been put into place to flatten the curve of coronavirus transmission and it’s essential that all of us – not just some of us – adhere to orders for social distancing. And we expect all construction workers and sites to be proactive in ensuring safe workplaces. Our City staff will not hesitate to shut down activities where there’s evidence of unsafe distancing. There is zero tolerance for groups gathering at an unsafe distance – we must do what we can to prevent new life-threatening cases of COVID-19.”
The City’s Building and Safety and Code Compliance Divisions recommend the following measures for construction activities:
- Hand washing facilities or hand sanitizer to be installed at entrances to construction projects;
- Shared tools and equipment to be sanitized;
- Signage posted to instruct workers of social distancing and sanitation requirements, and entrance limitations for workers who are sick or exhibit symptoms of being ill or those in recent close contact with someone exposed to COVID-19; and
- Workers not to gather in groups larger than three during breaks and to maintain a six-foot social distance during such breaks.
In addition, if construction is taking place within an occupied residential building, steps must be taken to minimize contact with areas within the building (excluding the actual construction area) and to clean and sanitize those areas daily.
The City’s Building and Safety and Code Compliance staff are authorized to issue a stop-work order at any construction site operating in violation of these measures. Community members are encouraged to report concerns related to non-compliant construction by calling the City of West Hollywood’s Code Compliance Division at (323) 848-6516.
The City of West Hollywood is extending enforcement measures to public parks/dog parks. Social distancing is expected in these areas and they will be monitored. The City is working diligently to maintain these open spaces for residents, but will be forced to shut these areas down if public health orders for social distancing cannot be maintained by park users. Additionally, the City encourages all dog companions to walk with their dogs in neighborhoods at a safe distance from others.
The City of West Hollywood continues to urge community members to follow the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health’s Safer at Home orders and Governor Newsom’s Stay and Home directive. West Hollywood City Hall is currently closed to the public and has suspended all in-person transactions. All public City buildings, playgrounds, and facilities are closed. City Hall will remain accessible for business and essential services with transactions to be conducted by phone (323) 848-6400 and via the City’s website at www.weho.org.
The City of West Hollywood coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus and the City encourages community members to follow @wehocity on Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and turn on notifications for up-to-date information regarding details in the City of West Hollywood.
To view essential-business City meetings, tune in to WeHoTV at:
www.weho.org/wehotv
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For notifications by email, subscribe to the City’s E-Notifications at www.weho.org/email. Visit the City’s event and meetings calendar at www.weho.org/calendar and news archive at www.weho.org/news. To receive urgent updates to your phone by text and to your email, text your ZIP code to 888-777.
For updates and information about the current numbers of COVID-19 cases in the United States and in Los Angeles County, the spread of the virus, severity, treatments, precautions, and other important public health information in multiple languages, please visit websites for:
Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (Public Health) www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
