Longboat stays the course on beaches despite county decision

Sarasota County’s plan to reopen its public beaches with restrictions next week does not have much impact on Longboat Key, Town Manager Tom Harmer said today.

Harmer said Sarasota County leaders communicated with the town of Longboat Key ahead of Wednesday’s commission meeting on their decision.

“The county administrator even mentioned that this action that they're taking is probably more similar to what Longboat Key is doing already,” Harmer said. “We closed our parking and beach access points, but we did not close our beaches.”

Sarasota County public beaches are set to reopen Monday with several restrictions. Public parking will remain closed for the time being. 

Harmer said the town of Longboat Key would continue to hold with his executive order that he issued on April 10. While the order closed public beach access parking, the beach itself was not closed in Longboat.

The town is expected to re-evaluate Harmer’s order on or before May 1.

When asked whether he thought Sarasota County commissioners made the right decision, Harmer said he did not want to second guess the county commission.

“I think it was a reasonable decision based on providing an opportunity for the public to perform those essential activities as described in the governor’s order,” Harmer said. “I think that’s one of the things that they talked about. It’s one of the reasons why we kept our beach access, for our residents, open for them to be able to walk along the beach, go swimming, go jogging, etc.”

Harmer said the town is enforcing essential activities based on Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order and based on social-distancing guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“We're not being so specific to say, can you have a blanket or a cooler with you?” Harmer said. “We're more focused on our access points are closed, our parking is closed. If you're on the beach, you need to adhere to the CDC guidelines.”

Harmer said the town is “very pleased” with residents’ responses to all the closures related to the coronavirus pandemic.