Malibu Beach Closure Order Expires In 10 Days, New Beach Plans In Discussions

A plan to gradually reopen beaches in Malibu and elsewhere in Los Angeles County is being readied.

Officials at the L A County Department of Public Health and other bureaucrats are finalizing the plan … according to comments made by South Bay mayors to the Long Beach Press telegram newspaper.

And like reopening businesses … there would be several phases.

Phase one: Open the water and shoreline for surfing, swimming, paddleboarding, walking and running.

Phase two: open the sand to sunbathers, but large groups would be prohibited;

Phase three: Smaller gatherings would be allowed; and

Phase four: More activities would be allowed, such as volleyball.

For the department’s reopening plan to take effect, Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer and the County Board of Supervisors must first approve it.

And Ferrer reminds the public the spread of the virus has been slowed … it still remains easily transmissible.

And the county has to deal with the vastly different nature of the various beaches from Ventura County Line to Long Beach.

Even within Malibu … the issue and problems at Zuma Beach are quite different than just up the road … at Broad Beach.

As for beaches … two additional small cities in Orange County are being allowed to reopen their beaches …

But only in a very limited way.

And that may be a pattern that Los Angeles County could follow … when the public health order gets renewed before it expires in 10 days.

Laguna Beach has won permission to allow the public to run or walk … swim or surf on weekdays only from 6 to 10 a.m.

San Clemente’s beaches are not restricted to certain hours … but that city will allow only active usage of the beach and keep restrooms and parking lots closed.

Prior to the governor’s mandatory closure, San Clemente had reopened its beaches for active use only — a situation that officials say was working well.

The big beaches in Orange County … at Huntington Beach and Newport Beach … are in cities that have not yet developed plans to restore beach access that are acceptable to the state.

The Manhattan Beach mayor confirms the L A County beach reopening plan in an interview with the Long Beach press-Telegram.

He said the entire Los Angeles County coastline — including Hermosa Beach, the only city-owned beach in the South Bay — will act with unified policies.

Malibu surfers are generally obeying the beach closure.

But many people with access to private stretches of sand next to beaches … like at Paradise Cove and Point Dume … are violating the no surfing rule.

Outside Malibu … there is great public resentment about rich people in Malibu flaunting the rules … and turning the public health emergency into sort of a Malibu locals only rule.

Expect a decision on reopening Malibu beaches soon.