PORT ARANSAS, Texas — Nueces County Judge Barbara Canales said she and other officials are working with their counterparts in Port Aransas to try and come up with a plan that will close down the beaches in Port Aransas to vehicle traffic.
There’s been a County vehicle ban on beaches that is in effect until August 17, but Port Aransas officials say they had to re-open them in the name of public safety.
Port Aransas Police Chief Scott Burroughs explained that part of the reason the beaches are open is the financial cost of trying to constantly patrol the area. The biggest reason for removing the barricades were the number of tourists parking in the neighborhoods near the beach.
“There’s no parking in Port Aransas except in residential areas," Chief Burroughs said. "It’s not like in Galveston where they have huge parking. So everybody’s forced to go into residential area. Our only parking is on the beach so when we open the barriers we have places to put the people"
Burroughs added that residents weren’t exactly happy to have tourists parking in front of their homes because they couldn’t park on the beach.
”We’ve had a number of calls, we’ve been working with neighborhoods in the outside, there’s really just no good answer," Chief Burroughs said.
We contacted County Judge Barbara Canales about this issue and she said a plan of action is being put together.
”We are in the process right now of creating that dialogue and that communication between our emergency management team here and there's in Port Aransas and I am certain we can work together to come up with a good plan and I hope to unveil that as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow morning," Canales said.
Our legal expert, Attorney Bill Chriss, said the County could take The City of Port Aransas to court over this matter. It's an issue that is turning out to be a difficult one to address during this pandemic.
"People like Judge Canales, Mayor Bujan and Mayor Macomb, they’re doing the best they can with the resources they have," Chriss said.
Chief Burroughs said until the City’s Mayor and County Judge Barbara Canales can come to some type of agreement, the beaches are going to remain open to vehicle traffic in Port Aransas.
For the latest updates on coronavirus in the Coastal Bend, click here.
For the latest updates on Hurricane Hanna, click here.