Bolivar beachgoers ignoring County Judge’s orders

It appears that beachgoers on Bolivar Peninsula are ignoring orders from Galveston County Judge Mark Henry. He declared on Thursday that no vehicular traffic would be allowed on the sand over the Independence Day weekend, from Friday through Monday. Also during that same time period, the judge ordered that pedestrians would only be allowed on the beach from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. each day.

However, on Friday KJAS reader Sherrie Thomas said the beach had been cluttered with traffic throughout the day, and she sent us a photo showing vehicles, ATV’s, and golf carts.

Judge Henry’s order came a day after Galveston Mayor Jim Yarbrough completely shut down not only all beaches along the island, but also barred parking along Seawall Boulevard.

Both Mayor Yarbrough and Judge Henry cited rising numbers of Coronavirus in Galveston County as the reason to try to keep people from clustering along the beaches.

The Galveston County Daily News quoted Yarbrough as saying “I have no qualms or second thoughts, It’s the right thing to do for public health.”

Henry’s order was initially a complete shutdown of the beaches just like the City of Galveston. However, he quickly relented and amended the order after he reportedly received considerable backlash from peninsula businesses and beach cabin owners.

https://www.kjas.com/news/local_news/article_bf7be73c-bd74-11ea-adf0-2bc378bb9cc1.html