Beach parking reopens, drawing crowds to Brevard County beaches
Tyler Vazquez
By the look of some Brevard County beaches Saturday, it was hard to tell a global pandemic had closed large segments of society.
Previously barricaded parking lots were opened and even where spots were still scarce, people were finding a way to crowd beaches in Cape Canaveral and Cocoa Beach to take advantage of a sunny first weekend of May.
The softening of restrictions comes after weeks of lockdowns and restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, which by Saturday had been responsible for over 65,000 deaths across the United States.
More:County, cities divided on regulating beach parking, park access
And:Brevard's suffering small businesses look forward to reopening
Executive orders from state and local governments across the country have prompted backlash in recent days. In Southern California, large crowds of protesters have been reported in places such as Huntington Beach and San Diego.
Some of those protests resulted in arrests over accusations of violating public health orders. In Brevard County, however, such angst over lack of beach access was alleviated before it became as severe.
Across the county, there were various levels of beach parking enforcement.
In places such as Cocoa Beach near Patrick Air Force Base, dozens of people flouted the still in place parking rules and risked tickets to get to the beach.
At Canova Beach and Seagull Park, barricades remained up, while at Paradise Beach drivers found the exit barricade moved so that anyone could come and go from the park.
The varying levels of enforcement reflected the debate within Brevard County government and between city governments and the county, as many are eager to reopen but not eager to create a public health risk.
Contact Vazquez at tvazquez@floridatoday.com, 321-917-7491 or on Twitter @tyler_vazquez. Support his work by subscribing to FloridaToday.com.
Previously:Which Florida beaches are open during COVID-19 pandemic and things you can and can't do
