Georgia governor opens beaches a day after issuing statewide stay-at-home order

Many Georgia beach communities decided to close down their waterfronts due to concerns over coronavirus, but under a statewide stay-at-home order issued Thursday, all beaches are opening back up -- whether the communities want to or not.

Several communities, including Tybee Island, had implemented local ordinances forbidding public access to their beaches, WJCL reported, but they are all superseded by Gov. Brian Kemp’s latest order.

The beaches reopened when the stay-at-home ordinance went into effect at 6 p.m. Friday, according to an administrative order signed by the Department of Natural Resources Commissioner Mark Williams.

“The Governor’s Executive Order suspends the enforcement of any local ordinance or order adopted or issued since March 1, 2020, that relates to COVID-19,” said Josh Hildebrandt, director of public and governmental affairs for DNR. “This Executive Order thus lifted any local ordinances or orders that had closed or restricted access to Georgia beaches.”


[link to news.yahoo.com (secure)]