Laguna Beach city leaders are mulling a proposal that would ban large pop-up shade structures on the sand to protect the safety of beachgoers.
Though the decision hasn't yet been made, it's been on the table since a Laguna Beach City Council meeting in late January. It calls for the restriction of pop-up tents and canopies that provide shade on the sand for safety reasons.
"What we're having a problem with is ... many of our coves in Laguna Beach are quite shallow, and the lifeguard towers are pushed back up against the hill on the coves, and when people put up these rows of these tent structures, the lifeguards cannot see down to the waterline and it creates a safety issue," said Mayor Mark Orgill.
The city currently allows for shade coverings as long as they're not bigger than 6-feet-tall by 6-feet wide. City leaders are looking into if the coverings prevent lifeguards from properly keeping the shores safe.
The city's Marine Safety Chief told council members that it's difficult for lifeguards to see swimmers and surfers when large multi-post canopies block their view.
Some residents agreed with the measure for safety reasons.
"Safety-wise? Yeah, definitely. It gets pretty crowded here, especially when it's sunny, which is most of the time," said Persia Hemmati. "Completely agree with that."
While others agreed from a more scenic perspective.
"I think gigantic large canopies, I think they ruin the beautiful vision of the beautiful beach," said Chris Carter.
City officials said that canopies could still be allowed in some places, but not on the smaller beaches where there's little sand. It's unclear when a decision was expected to be made.
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