The City of Edmonds said Friday that unless more people comply with the state’s mask-wearing directive, it will have no choice but to close the Edmonds Fishing Pier to all visitors.

After receiving reports from concerned residents that few people are wearing face coverings on the fishing pier, the city on Friday launched a week-long outreach campaign to increase the number of masked visitors.

“We have significant concern for the community’s safety,” said Edmonds Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services Director Angie Feser. “There needs to be a much higher compliance rate of wearing masks while within 6 feet of another person. We see too many people standing too closely together without masks. We know some use the pier for subsistence fishing, so we want to get the word out to everyone in as many languages as possible.”

Starting Friday, visitors will see more signs in more languages that outline the real consequences of no mask: wear a face covering or close the pier. A decision on whether to keep the pier open will be made within the next 10 days.

Edmonds is not the first government organization to consider this. The State of Washington, King County Parks and some cities have closed facilities due to low mask compliance rates.

“We don’t want to have to close the pier,” said Feser. “We know how much people love and use the pier. We need folks to love it enough to mask up when they use it.”