Orange County’s Huntington Beach, Dana Point, Seal Beach, Laguna Beach, San Clemente and Newport Beach can now reopen with limitations, state officials announced this week.
On Monday, Laguna Beach and San Clemente officials got the green light to reopen their respective beaches after submitting a proposal to Sacramento detailing various physical distancing measures they’d implement to protect visitors. On Tuesday, Huntington Beach, Dana Point and Seal Beach were given the go-ahead. And on Wednesday, Newport Beach — where a city councilman sued Gov. Gavin Newsom over the closures — was allowed to reopen for recreation with physical distancing measures in place.
Last week, Newsom ordered the closure of all public beaches in Orange County after visitors crowded the beaches and defied physical distancing orders to enjoy a warm weekend. The order was met with swift backlash by O.C. officials and residents, some of whom protested in crowds at Huntington Beach last Friday.
The Orange County Board of Supervisors also voted on Tuesday to send a plan to Sacramento for reopening all of the county’s beaches for active recreation, according to the Los Angeles Times.
When he first announced the closures, Newsom said he expected them to be a “short-term adjustment.”
“We got to make sure we get this right. Why undo all the great progress? Let’s move this state forward together,” he said at the time.