Beaches Remain Closed In Hermosa, Could Reopen In May

HERMOSA BEACH, CA — Beaches remain closed in Hermosa Beach, as officials begin discussing potential plans to reopen beaches later this month once California's stay-at-home order is lifted. The effort to reopen Los Angeles area beaches won't happen at once and it's a coordinated process involving coastal cities, officials tell Patch.

"Right now the beaches are closed and that’s part of the stay-home order and I think that’s a really important thing people don’t realize," Nicole Mooradian, PIO of County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches & Harbors, told Patch.

It's likely beaches could reopen by May 18, however the stay-at-home order could be extended across the county, she said.

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In April, California's stay-at-home order was extended. Officials are preparing to potentially reopen in May, but that doesn't mean all the beaches would reopen at one time.

"We are looking at a phase reopening," Mooradian said. "I think it’s very unlikely that we’d say one day that the beaches are open, because there would be a stampede. It may start May 18, it may not."

In Manhattan Beach, city officials have started an early draft and suggestions have been made to the plan so far. The drafted plan is not yet publicly available because it changes each day, she said.

"We’re working with the South Bay cities and also the city of Malibu and Santa Monica because this really has to be a regional approach," Mooradian told Patch.

Department of Beaches and Harbors is continuing to work with different cities and law enforcement throughout the county to put a plan together.

Keeping beaches closed hasn't been easy, she said. The county loses revenue when the beaches are closed, including revenue from parking. For now, they’re the waiting on the experts and starting to plan.

"We’ve been called fascists and all sorts of other names. We’re taking a revenue hit," she said.

During the first week of the stay-at-home order, Los Angeles County officials saw crowds at the beach, and in the following week the beaches were closed to prevent people from gathering and continue social distancing measures, she said.

"We don’t want to see crowds," Mooradian told Patch. "There’s a lot of concerns but we want people to be able to go back to the beach, too, when it’s safe. We’re beachgoers ourselves."

County of Los Angeles Department of Beaches & Harbors manages Torrance, Redondo, Manhattan, Dockweiler and Marina “Mother’s” Beach, which includes raking sand, cleaning restrooms and permitting. The department cleans Hermosa Beach, but does not manage permits there. In Venice, the department cleans the sand and manages permits, but only cleans the “underground” restroom at the very south end of the beach, just north of Marina del Rey. The department is also the de facto city hall type agency for unincorporated Marina del Rey.

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