VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. – Friday marked the first day of unprecedented beach closures across Volusia County.
- Volusia County beaches closed per executive order
- The beaches were empty Friday with a few people still out
- Volusia County Beach Safety officers were out on patrol
For some, the change was not easy to adjust to.
At the Shore's Resort and Spa, General Manager Rob Burnetti recently had to furlough 90 of his 120 employees, which he said hurt a lot. While the hotel has been operating at about 10 percent capacity, he said more people began checking out with the beach closures. He estimated his occupancy would soon be near seven percent.
“It’s not good for us, it's certainly just one more thing that we have to deal with during this difficult time,” Burnetti said. “But we understand why the decisions were made.”
Another challenge is explaining the closures to the visitors he has left.
“We can tell our guests that are here, you can go for a walk out front and walk down A1A but you can’t got for a walk on the beach," Burnetti said. "That is kind of hard”
But he is not alone. Volusia County Beach Safety was at work all day herding people off the beach, many confused about the new rules.
“Any type of leisurely activity, coming to the beach to do anything is completely off limits right now,” said Deputy Chief Aaron Jenkins of Volusia County Beach Safety.
Stephen Tursi rode his bike down to the beach, intent on enjoying himself despite the closures.
“I had to come down and give it a try and see for myself,” Tursi said.
However, Tursi then thought better of it for the sake of Beach Patrol and turned around just as he reached the beach ramp.
“They have jobs to do you know and you got to do it, you know you’ve got to make their lives easier at this point you know," he said.
By 4:30 p.m., Beach Safety personnel had given about 120 verbal warnings, one written warning, and a citation which will result in a $500.
“These are trying times for a lot of these people so we are doing whatever we can to convince them to leave and only, like I said, in the most extreme measure would we actually write a ticket or arrest anybody,” Jenkins said.
While no one knows for certain how long it will be before we’ll see crowded beaches—
Many hope these new rules will help us get closer to being back together on the coast once again.
“We understand that we have to do what we need to do to get things back to our new normal, whatever that is going to be and if that’s a step in that direction then that’s fine,” Burnetti said.
According the Beach Safety— the only people that are still allowed out on the beaches are commerical fisherman and construction workers. They are allowed out only for work purposes— as they do not want to disrupt their livelihood.
Anyone else is not allowed on the beach— even for walking. That includes those who live on beachfront property.