Newport Beach Relaxes Summer Surfing Ban

A surfer’s loud “yahoo” rippled through the city’s Parks, Beaches and Recreation Commission meeting on Tuesday night, after the commissioners voted 7 to 1 to ease the summer ban on surfing.

On Sept. 25, the City Council will consider the commissioners’ recommendation to create all-day surfing areas on three, four-block stretches of the city’s beaches.

“There have been so many days that the surf has been so nice, and then we are blackballed out of the water,” said Rick Richardson, 50, a veteran surfer from Newport Beach.

Richardson, a high school teacher in Placentia, began surfing in 1961, five years before the city banned surfing from noon to 4 p.m., from June 10 to Sept. 15.

Despite pleas from members of local homeowners groups, who contend that their property values will go down if the ban is lifted, the commissioners agreed that designating certain surfing areas would not pose a heavy burden on residents.

“This in no way is a radical change,” Commissioner Phillip Glasgow said, “and it’s long overdue.”

If the council approves the commissioners’ recommendation, all-day surfing areas would be created between the jetties on 56th and 52nd streets; 48th and 44th streets; and 40th to 36th streets.