Orange County Beach Cities Still Upset Despite Their Partial Reopenings

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Gov. Gavin Newsom and the beach cities in Orange County have been going back and forth since the beginning of the state's stay-at-home order.

After Newsom handed down hard closures to beaches across Orange County over concerns about crowding.

After discussions, protests, and lawsuits Newsom allowed partial reopening of the beaches.

But they still aren't pleased.

Newsom is allowing the beaches to be used for only recreational use. So many of the lawsuits are still moving forward/

Here are where the Orange County cases stand:

Muldoon v. Newsom et. al.

U.S. District Judge James Selna rejected Newport Beach City Councilman Kevin Muldoon’s bid for a temporary restraining order on Friday because the beaches were allowed to be partially reopened.

“Although I’m pleased my lawsuit pressured the governor to quickly reopen Orange County’s beaches, I view this as a partial victory, since families with young children and the disabled are still not allowed to sit on the sand,” he said. “I and others will continue to fight to reopen the beaches for all Californians so everyone can enjoy the health benefits of being outside, not just those that are mobile enough to exercise.”

City of Huntington Beach et. al. v. Newsom et. al.

Once the beaches were partially opened, Dana Point dropped out of the suit with Huntington Beach.

Huntington Beach remained on because they believe there's a violation of the state-versus-local-control

“The controversy at the heart of this action — who has the power over local beaches and who is accountable for those decisions — is as present now as it was when plaintiffs filed this action,” the city’s lawyers wrote in a Friday filing. “The state will no doubt exercise that power should it again conclude that activities at local beaches create an unsafe condition, as it did when issuing the April 30 directive based on sensationalized photographs.”

Muller et. al. v. Newsom et. al.

This suit was filed on May 1 by city council members.

City council members Joe Muller of Dana Point, Laura Ferguson of San Clemente and Greg Raths of Mission Viejo also sued as individuals.

They are arguing infringements on their rights to travel, due process, equal protection, liberty, assembly and a state-protected right to coastline access.

As they did in the other cases, state lawyers said the problem has been resolved with the “active recreation” reopenings.

For more information, please read here.


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