Del Mar City Council to discuss beach, park operations after confusion over governor’s order

After scrapping an originally scheduled beach reopening on April 30, the Del Mar City Council will hold a special meeting on Friday, May 1 at 3:30 p.m. to discuss operations of city beaches and parks, which have been closed to stop the spread of COVID-19.

On Wednesday, April 29, the city reversed its plans to reopen beaches for exercise and other limited use after reports that Gov. Gavin Newsom planned to close all beaches statewide. But the next day, the governor changed course and announced that only Orange County beaches would have to close.

Pictures of crowded beaches in Orange County last weekend drew Newsom’s ire.

Many San Diego elected officials and residents said they would have felt unfairly targeted if Newsom’s order closed all state beaches, since local beachgoers have been social distancing and following laws aimed at containing COVID-19.

“Great news: the Governor heard us,” San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer tweeted, adding that “we don’t need knee-jerk policies.”

The city of Solana Beach announced that its plans to reopen beaches on May 4 are still intact.

“The ultimate goal is to have a safe, successful, and well-managed re-opening so that the beaches will not only remain open but will progress into Phase 2 which includes further relaxing of the rules and guidelines to preserve the availability of this valuable recreational resource,” read an update on the city’s website.