BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Brevard County is taking the first steps towards making it easier to get to the beach after the county commission and their policy group agreed to loosen some restrictions.
- Beach parking reopens in Brevard County
- Some cities, however, are not opening up parking just yet
In a policy group meeting Friday, Sheriff Wayne Ivey clarified what will be opening up.
“County parks along the beaches and county parking. I want to be very specific, we are talking about county parking. Some cities are not opening their parking yet check each city to see if they opened parking,” he said.
Cities like Melbourne Beach, Indialantic and Satellite Beach are continuing with their parking restrictions until at least May 8, which means there’s no public parking. Some county-controlled beach parking between Patrick Air Force Base south to Spessard Holland Park won’t reopen to the public until May 7 due to a beach renourishment project.
For weeks, Ichabod's Bar and Grill General Manager Eddy Fischer watched the Howard Futch Park parking lot remain empty, but not Saturday. The lot is finally back open. The beach looking more like a delayed spring break with beachgoers practicing social distancing.
“I like to see families having fun and see families going to the beach, it's the healthiest thing you can do,” Fischer said.
With restaurants only being able to operate at 25 percent capacity starting Monday, Fischer is welcoming the extra foot traffic.
“We get a little extra business from the park, it's nice to be across the street from it,” Fischer said.
Brevard County government facilities are scheduled to be open by May 18 and county libraries will begin opening in phases.