Suffolk County Inter-municipal Working Group

Opening Beaches/Summer Facilities

Recommendations
Updated as of May 14

I. Public Health and Safety Guidelines

Recommendations
- Beach visitors should be required to wear a face covering or mask when not on the beach
or in the water.

o Beach visitors should be notified by staff of the face covering or mask policy
upon entry
 During initial opening period, operators should have a supply of face
coverings or masks on-hand to distribute to beach visitors upon entry who
do not have face coverings or masks to wear as required.
- Signage
o Abundant signage explaining specific required public behaviors should be
installed at all beaches:
 Social distance requirement – including visual representation of 6 feet
 Mask/face covering requirement
 Hand washing guidelines

o Signage should be installed at the following examples of key locations:

 All entrances and exits
 Concession stands
 Water fountains
 Along boardwalks/walkways
 Public restrooms
 Abundant signage and floor markings defining queue with
appropriate required social distance should be installed in
restrooms
 Within sight of popular vistas (i.e. where people are most likely to be
looking after initial arrival)

o Signs should contain visual cues and be posted in English and Spanish

II. Season
Recommendations
III. Beaches should remain open for passive, short-term use for the 2020 season.
a. Restrooms should remain closed to encourage short-term visits.

IV. Certain lifeguarded beaches should open on a delayed basis for the 2020 season.
a. Certain beaches may open on Memorial Day, where significantly limited access is
pre-existing (i.e. small, “residents only” beaches) and public health risk is
minimal or where robust staffing plans can be implemented to ensure compliance
with applicable public health and safety rules and guidelines.
 Suffolk County Inter-municipal Working Group
Opening Beaches/Summer Facilities
Recommendations
Updated as of May 14

b. Larger scale, public lifeguarded beaches which cannot implement adequate

staffing necessary to ensure compliance with applicable public health and safety
rules and guidelines by Memorial Day should open when they are able to
implement the necessary staffing.

V. Staff
Recommendations
- Municipalities should hire a full complement of lifeguard and other seasonal staffing.
o Lifeguards will undergo special training related to executing saves (including
using water-compatible masks, etc.) from their certifying body (American Red
Cross, American Heart Association, etc.)

- Additional public safety or other personnel should be added and stationed at all entry and
exit points, as well as on beaches for compliance with applicable public health and safety
rules and guidelines.
o Each beach should have a staffing plan developed to determine the appropriate
enforcement and communication personnel necessary to ensure compliance with
applicable public health and safety rules and guidelines.
 Enforcement and communication staff should be trained to:
 Inform beach visitors of applicable rules
 Adjust behavior of beach visitors to ensure compliance
o Staff should be provided with a visual tool to remind
visitors of the six feet social distance requirement
 Respond to persistent non-compliant behavior
o An established escalation process should be in place for
visitors who refuse to comply

- Dependent upon the size of the beach and typical number of daily visitors, beach
operators should employ a bathroom attendant to ensure compliance with applicable
public health and safety rules and guidelines.
o Additional staffing should be added to accomplish regular cleaning of public
restrooms commensurate with the typical number of daily visitors.
- Staff should be fully educated on the symptoms of COVID-19 and advised to stay home
if they develop any of the symptoms.
o Staff should have their temperatures checked daily and immediately sent home if
they have a temperature of 100.3 or higher.

VI. Capacity
Recommendations
- Each beach should develop a capacity plan to ensure adequate space is available for
household groups to maintain a minimum of six feet from all other groups.
o Dependent upon the total size of the beach, visitor capacity should be limited by
an appropriate proportion.
 Suffolk County Inter-municipal Working Group
Opening Beaches/Summer Facilities
Recommendations
Updated as of May 14

o On unsupervised beaches where access is not directly controlled, signage should

be installed to ensure compliance with social distance.
o The use of beach towels, blankets and chairs may be authorized if beach operators
have the staffing in place necessary to ensure compliance with applicable public
health and safety rules and guidelines.
 The rental of beach equipment (umbrellas, chairs, etc.) may be allowed if
the equipment is cleaned in between each rental.

VII. Facilities
Recommendations
- Cleaning and disinfecting
o Public restrooms and any other public facilities on site should be cleaned
regularly commensurate with the typical number of daily visitors.
 Special attention should be given to high touch surfaces
 Door knobs, countertops, handles, sinks
 Cleaning staff must be provided with disposable gloves
o Public restrooms and any other public facilities on site should be disinfected
nightly using an EPA-approved disinfectants for use against SARS-CoV-2.
- Use of certain facilities/amenities
o The operation of restaurants/concessions on beaches should follow
recommendations released on the operation of food service establishments.
 Beach operators should employ staff around concession areas to ensure
compliance with applicable public health and safety rules and guidelines.
 Concessionaire operators should employ the use of contactless ordering
mobile applications, to the extent feasible, to reduce the need for in-person
queuing.
o The use of playgrounds should be prohibited for the 2020 season.
o The use of basketball courts should be prohibited for the 2020 season.
o The use of tennis courts is allowed.
 Operators should take measures to ensure compliance with USTA
recommendations for player safety including:
 Hand washing or hand sanitizing before play.
 Staying on one side of the court.
 Avoiding touching the ball with hands (use of racquet or feet)
 Players should open two cans of tennis balls that do not share the
same number on the ball, take one set of numbered balls, and have
their playing partner take a set of balls from the other can, taking
care to only use their own set of numbered balls only.
 Suffolk County Inter-municipal Working Group
Opening Beaches/Summer Facilities
Recommendations
Updated as of May 14

Working Group Membership

- Suffolk County Deputy County Executive Peter Scully
- Suffolk County Commissioner of Parks Phil Berdolt
- Chair of the Suffolk County Environment, Parks & Agriculture Committee, Legislator Kara Hahn
- Fire Island National Seashore Superintendent Alexcy Romero
- New York State Parks Long Island Regional Director George Gorman
- Brookhaven Town Supervisor Ed Romaine
- Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter
- Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell
- East Hampton Town Supervisor Peter Van Scoyoc
- Southampton Town Councilman John Bouvier
- Ocean Beach Village Mayor Jim Mallott
- Saltaire Village Mayor John Zaccaro
- Southampton Village Mayor Jesse Warren
- Suzy Goldhirsch, Fire Island Association
- Vernon Henrikson, Fire Island EMS