The California Office of Emergency Services sent a letter to city officials in San Diego, Imperial Beach, Coronado, Del Mar, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad and Oceanside imploring them to also close beach parking lots.
Carlsbad, Encinitas and Oceanside have complied with the request, but Imperial Beach, Coronado, San Diego, Del Mar, Solana Beach and Encinitas said their beach parking lots remain open.
The letter on Friday came after California closed parking lots at state beaches through Sunday. Those beaches include Cardiff, Leucadia, Moonlight, San Elijo, Torrey Pines State Beach, San Onofre, Carlsbad State Beach and Silver Strand.
“At the time of writing, beaches under the jurisdiction of local governments within San Diego County are the only beaches without visitation restrictions throughout all of Southern California, and therefore are attracting thousands of residents from outside your coastal communities and creating significant potential for disease transmission, particularly in crowded restaurants, bars, retail, and hotels,” the letter stated. “To protect the public health of San Diegans and reduce the high potential transmission of this deadly disease in San Diego coastal businesses, we write to request that municipal governments do not open beach parking lots for the July 4th holiday weekend.”
“By keeping parking lots closed, we can help limit beach access in San Diego to San Diegans only, to protect the health of residents and reduce the high likelihood of disease transmission in surrounding San Diego restaurants, bars, and businesses,” according to the letter. “Closure of beach parking lots could discourage day-trips from other communities.”
San Diego’s Chief Operating Officer Kris Michell said in a statement Saturday that California officials didn’t give the city enough time to put in place a beach parking lot shutdown for the Fourth.
“The city of San Diego is closely following county guidance and working with health officials to encourage adherence to public health regulations,” Michell said. “The request to regional coastal cities to close beach parking lots on the Fourth of July came last night just a few hours before the start of the holiday, leaving little time to enact, enforce or notify the public.
“San Diego continues to require facial coverings and physical distancing at all locations, and this week voluntarily implemented restrictions on bars and restaurants to limit the spread of COVID-19,” Michell said. “As we have since the beginning of the pandemic, we will continue to work with county and state health officials to protect public health and safety.”
Carlsbad said that in addition to closing its beach parking lots, lifeguards and police officers will be providing masks to help reduce spread of COVID-19 on the single city-owned beach.
Updated at 4:30 p.m., Saturday, July 4, 2020
— From Staff and Wire Reports