Beaches, Shops Reopen Across Orange County Mother's Day Weekend
ORANGE COUNTY, CA — Orange County began allowing so-called "low-risk" businesses, shuttered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, to reopen for curbside service only starting Friday.
The move to allow some businesses to ramp back up or open comes as the state relaxes its stay-at-home health order. Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will consider petitions from individual counties that want to go further and allow other businesses to open.
It's a tough time for established store owners, let alone those launching a new business.
In Laguna Beach, a niche book store is opening just in time to take advantage of the new allowances. Sleepless in Laguna bookstore owners Joe Anzenberger and Lisa Ann Reed had intended to open in March, they told Patch. The universe had other plans.
The pair have tackled a large number of hurdles since preparing to open during the pandemic, from the ordinary permit and city issues to figuring out how to sell books amid the coronavirus crisis. On Friday, they open their shop, Sleepless in Laguna, over a month later than initially planned.
The bookstore features a selection of romance titles and gifts, ideal for Mother's Day, according to the shopkeepers. In pictures, tables and cozy reading nooks abound. In reality, they've rearranged a bit for the new method of curbside business.
Anzenberger will have disposable gloves for those who want to thumb through a title, and prepackaged gift baskets for those looking for the perfect gift.
"We have taken the governor at his word, and have tables at the curb for people to look through," Anzenberger told Patch. It is a new era of shopping, and he intends to follow every city, county and state restriction for business owners, he said.
Reopening of other businesses will be based on strict guidelines, according to Newsom. Those guidelines include:
Public health reports of not more than one case per 10,000 residents in the last 14 days.
Reporting no deaths in the past 14 days.
Providing daily testing of 1.5 tests per 1,000 residents.
Having 15 contact tracers available for every 100,000 residents.
Ensuring hospitals have the capacity to handle a 35 percent surge in cases.
Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett, president of the California State Association of Counties, spoke with state health department officials Thursday evening and planned to propose a different standard for larger counties such as Los Angeles and Orange counties.
The density and higher population of the county will make it virtually impossible to get through two weeks without a COVID-19-related death for the foreseeable future, Bartlett said.
"We need to look at the right criteria and metrics relative to the population of the county — something that is more fair and balanced," Bartlett said. Either way, she said, stores across the southland are reopening and attempting to follow each guideline provided to them.
In Laguna Beach, stores rely heavily on tourist income. Owners hope that locals will shop close to home over Mother's Day weekend.
There are plenty of gifts for moms at Sleepless In Laguna and, next door, at Fairytale flowers.
The bookstore, whose shelves are lined with local and best selling romance titles, fills a specialty romance market. They have no designs to compete with Barnes & Noble or Amazon; rather, the plan was to hold author signings and fill beach bags of visitors and local readers.
They never imagined that all who stroll the shores wouldn't be allowed to sit and read.
At least, not yet.
This weekend, the city of Laguna Beach has relaxed restrictions to extend morning beach walks, surfing and other forms of active exercise to Saturday, from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m.
If all goes well, they may do the same on Sunday, the city says.
Elsewhere, new beach hours of 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. will be in effect in Newport Beach and will mirror the hours for beaches in Huntington Beach and San Clemente, said Newport Beach public information manager John Pope.
Pope said enforcement of the new "keep moving" rules was mostly about seeking voluntary compliance. Video shots of the beaches showed many beachgoers sunbathing, which is not allowed.
"The things we're looking for are the obvious indicators like someone is planning to camp out for a long stretch," Pope said. "Lifeguards are looking for canopies, tents, umbrellas. We see them out there, and when we do see them, our lifeguards will try to educate those folks and say, 'Hey, we can't have that under the current rules.'"
The city is also using electronic message boards to reinforce the new restrictions, Pope said.
Some residents are cooperative with the rules and some are less cooperative, he said, but right now officials are trying to educate versus cite.
"If we do need to, the police can be called in, and we can have the ability to issue citations," Pope said. "But we're not trying to do that now. We're trying to let people know the rules."
O'Neill said the city would try to get beachgoers to voluntarily comply with the new rules before having to resort to citations.
The active uses approved include walking, running, hiking, bicycling, swimming, surfing, bodysurfing, boogie boarding, kite surfing, paddleboarding, skimboarding and kayaking. Sunbathing is not allowed.
The city's boardwalk on the peninsula, the popular Wedge surfing spot and the parking lots, will remain closed, Pope said.
Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Dana Point reopened their beaches for active use Tuesday.
Meantime, the total number of coronavirus cases in Orange County stood at 3,092, with 66 deaths as of Thursday afternoon.
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This article originally appeared on the Orange County Patch
