MONTEREY — A group of Monterey Bay coastal communities and state parks have announced the planned closure of all beaches including those on the Monterey Peninsula over the Labor Day weekend.
In a joint announcement issued Wednesday, the communities indicated they planned to prohibit beach access during the “anticipated busy holiday weekend,” from Saturday, Sept. 5 through Monday, Sept. 7. The announcement noted the closure is “subject to input and potential ratification by each of the (communities’) elected leaders.”
On Thursday, Pacific Grove City Manager Ben Harvey announced that Lovers Point Park and beaches, and related parking, as well as the Ocean View Boulevard parking turnouts, would be closed starting Saturday in an attempt to “reinforce social distancing and reduce large public gatherings,” and would remain closed through Sept. 8, the Tuesday after Labor Day.
The joint announcement was issued by the city managers for Monterey, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Sand City, Capitola, and Santa Cruz, as well as the state parks superintendent, and the Santa Cruz County administrative officer.
“We are deeply concerned about public safety and the impacts the coronavirus has sustained in our communities,” the local and state officials said in the announcement. “We know that we must take action this Labor Day holiday to protect our residents, and help our communities get past the pandemic-caused shelter in place so we can all get back to work, school, and a more normal way of life. The more stringent measures we take now will reduce more COVID-19 positive cases and hasten our economic recovery, thus relieving devastating stress, worry and heartache for so many.”
The planned closure will include Monastery Beach, Carmel River State Beach, Carmel Beach, Asilomar State Beach, McAbee Beach, San Carlos Beach, Del Monte Beach, Monterey State Beach, Fort Ord Dunes State Park, and Marina State Beach in Monterey County.
It will also include the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk beaches including Main Beach and Cowell Beach, Seacliff State Beach, Capitola Beach, Manresa Main State Beach, and Sunset State Beach in Santa Cruz County.
Monterey City Manager Hans Uslar said the city council will be asked at its Sept. 1 meeting to consider the beach closure proposal, which calls for a prohibition on access over the holiday weekend except for those traversing the sand to engage in ocean sports such as swimming and surfing. Like the Fourth of July weekend, Uslar said barriers will be placed at beach access points, parking restrictions will be in place, and police will patrol the beaches on ATVs.
Uslar called the Fourth of July weekend beach closure “very successful” and said the goal is to replicate that experience. He said he expects Pacific Grove and Carmel city officials to pursue similar approaches.
Noting that Santa Cruz officials are apparently considering a modification that would allow beaches to open in the mid-afternoon over the weekend to allow local residents some beach access, Uslar said nothing like that is being contemplated in Monterey.
In Pacific Grove, western Lovers Point Beach will remain open for ocean sports, but no standing, sitting, lying or walking on the beach is allowed unless walking to the water, and the Pacific Grove Recreational Trail and Oceanview Boulevard will remain open for walking, running, and bicycling with face coverings and social distancing.
Supervisor Mary Adams, whose district includes the Peninsula, said she has been working with Peninsula mayors on a Labor Day weekend beach closure plan modeled after the Fourth of July shutdown for weeks, including state parks officials in recent meetings. Adams said Thursday she was pleased Monterey city officials had taken the lead on the issue because she has been occupied with the wildfires in her district including the River Fire, the Dolan Fire and the Carmel Fire.
“It’s terrific to have a regional approach with Santa Cruz,” she said.
Adams said she had also confirmed that the Pebble Beach Company would close beaches in that community and would close off 17-Mile Drive to visitor traffic during the holiday weekend.
All local agencies including state parks will be assigning teams to help manage beach closures, according to the announcement.
Visit each community’s website and the state parks website for more information about specific beach closure dates and times.
The announcement comes with Monterey and Santa Cruz counties on different trajectories in the battle against COVID-19.
Monterey County remains firmly on the state’s watch list, exceeding state limits on key metrics including new 14-day and 7-day case numbers, and is now exceeding the state limit on three-day average COVID-19 hospitalizations after seeing 25 more people admitted to local hospitals since Monday.
According to a county health report, as of Thursday morning, a total of 419 people have been hospitalized with the novel coronavirus, including a one-day increase of 10 new patients, and 49 people have died with the virus – two more since Wednesday morning. In all, 6,865 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in the county.
Santa Cruz County, conversely, was just taken off the state’s watch list after meeting all state limits on the same key metrics, which it has continued to do according to the state Department of Public Health website.
