Saturday afternoon St. Johns County announced that all public beaches in the county would be closed to the public starting at 6:00 a.m. Sunday, and remain closed until further notice.
"We have taken as many measures as possible up to this point to preserve our residents' ability to access their beach. Unfortunately, those visiting the beach continue to ignore CDC guidelines regarding crowd size and personal distancing. In order to maintain public safety and respect the State of Florida's Executive Order, we had no choice but to close the coastline to public access today," said Hunter S. Conrad, St. Johns County Administrator in an email to WJCT News.
However, all boat ramps, parks, green spaces, and trails remain open.
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"We will continue to be methodical in our approach to closings related to COVID-19, and like every decision we have made to this point, we will open the beaches at the appropriate time when it is safe to do so," Conrad said.
The determination to close all public beaches is based on a recommendation to reduce health risks associated with COVID-19 and beach overcrowding.
The decision was made in consultation with the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office, the St. Augustine Beach Police Department, the City of St. Augustine, the City of St. Augustine Beach, St. Johns County Emergency Management, and local health officials.
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
