ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Following a unanimous vote on Wednesday, beaches in Sarasota County will be the first in the Bay area to re-open since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The county's beaches will reopen, with restrictions, beginning 6 a.m. on April 27. People will only be able to exercise, fish or swim. Congregating is not allowed and parking lots will remain closed.
At the same time, leaders in Pinellas County are not budging. Beaches will remain closed following a move to extend the local state emergency from April 24 to May 1.
But all eyes, it seemed, were on Duval County this past weekend where beaches were the first in the state to be re-opened. The move made national headlines and prompted some fierce backlash on social media with #FloridaMorons becoming a trending hashtag on Twitter.
On a conference call Wednesday with members of the ‘Re-open Florida Task Force,’ Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry defended the decision to re-open the beaches, arguing photos taken at ground-level distorted the actual crowd size.
“There were a number of still photos that made it look like we were overcrowded and there was no distance which was not accurate,” Curry said.
Drone video from First Coast News showed people appearing to be much more spread out when compared to ground-level photos.
Curry argued his city has been able to balance safety with recreation and said he did not believe that enforcement required “dictator-style” threats of arrest.
"We're not sending law enforcement on the beach to act like dictators,” he said on the call. “What we've done is we have a law enforcement presence… they're on speakers telling [people] to keep their distance—and frankly, it's working."
Similar to Sarasota County, people are allowed to exercise, fish or swim. But congregating is not allowed. Parking lots will also remain closed.
Hours of access are also limited to just a few hours in the morning—between 6 a.m. and 11 a.m.—and again during the evening—between 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
“What we’ve done is given people some relief—an opportunity to get out at the beginning of the day and end of the day,” Curry said. "People want to behave responsibly, sometimes you just have to remind them not to congregate, stop or get in compact spaces."
Task force member and president of the Fountainebleau Miami Beach, Philip Goldfarb praised Curry and said the measures in place in Duval County could be applied in other beach re-openings across the state.
"I would suggest that model be the one potentially used elsewhere throughout the state of Florida,” he said.
The task force is hearing from leaders in retail, food, finance, recreation, healthcare and agriculture with final recommendations due to be presented to Gov. Ron DeSantis by week's end.
Flagler County beaches also re-opened on Wednesday.
In Pasco County, parks are reopening with "limited access."
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