FREMONT — A major entrance to Mission Peak Regional Preserve in Fremont will remain closed through May 4, the East Bay Regional Park District decided Tuesday, after top Fremont officials requested a longer closure, citing concerns about crowding there and the possible spread of COVID-19.

Robert Doyle, the park district’s general manager, said the “very popular” Stanford Avenue staging area and trailhead will be kept closed to cars and pedestrians until the park district staff can be properly equipped to get restrooms cleaned and reopened safely, and pick up trash that visitors have been leaving behind.

Mission Peak will still be accessible via the trailhead near the Ohlone College parking garage, a little more than a mile and a half north of Stanford Avenue.

The decision comes after Fremont’s city manager Mark Danaj, and Police Chief Kim Petersen, issued separate letters to the park district requesting and then demanding the closure of the staging area and trailhead, respectively.

In an April 9 letter, Danaj claimed city staff and elected officials had seen visitors of the Stanford Avenue staging area not complying with social distancing requirements in effect under the current county and state health orders, and requested the district close the area until one week after shelter in place orders are lifted.

On Tuesday, in making the closure decision, Doyle pushed back against Fremont’s requests.

“We do not agree with the city’s position that (the closure) should be extended longer, nor do they have the authority…to demand that we do that,” Doyle said.

Doyle focused on the lack of trash pickup and the closed restrooms leading to sanitation issues as the main reasoning for his decision to close the entrance, though he did acknowledge some crowding in the parking lot.

“In general, we are seeing fair compliance with the social distancing. But what we’re getting is the crowds in the parking lot before they can distance as they head up the trail,” he said.

The park district has been working to secure protective equipment for workers and set up protocols so trash pickup — which has been halted in the district during the pandemic — can resume, and bathrooms at parks can be safely cleaned and reopened, according to Dave Mason, a park district spokesman.

Doyle said at the meeting Tuesday he was “disappointed” in park visitors who are ignoring the district’s pleas for people to leave no trash behind, instead leaving litter and even bags of dog poop near overfilled trash cans or in parking areas.

Though Fremont officials had requested longer closures, Doyle ordered the closure only through May 4, as he’s expecting shelter in place orders to be extended, not lifted.

“So that creates a situation where a temporary closure becomes a longer term closure,” he said.

“We believe this is an important park for the public. We also believe that the district has been complying with the health order and that the risk to the public is not there if they follow the protocols that we have put in place,” he said.

As a result of Danaj’s April 9 letter, the park district temporarily closed the Stanford Avenue staging area over Easter weekend to cut back on crowding, as it did with several other parks, but then reopened the area with a plan to further discuss the city of Fremont’s request at its April 21 meeting.

Petersen said in a follow up letter on April 13 the park district hadn’t gone far enough, and claimed that due to overcrowding, operating Mission Peak was a violation of the county health order.

Petersen ordered the park district to close the staging area and trails because leaving it open posed “an unreasonable and avoidable risk of the spread of the virus by members of the public who continue to ignore social distancing guidelines.”

Park district officials said Petersen had no authority to demand the closure of the area, but the district nonetheless ordered the temporary closure of the Stanford Avenue entrance at a special April 16 meeting, agreeing to keep it closed until it was again discussed at the April 21 meeting.

Petersen said in a written statement to this news organization after Tuesday’s meeting that she was “very happy to hear of the decision and grateful for the partnership we have with the (East Bay Regional Park District).”

Doyle noted at Tuesday’s meeting that when the Stanford Avenue entrance reopens, the district may have added more signage in the area reminding visitors of the requirement to wear masks or face coverings, which multiple Bay Area counties are instituting.