Horowitz said she enjoyed strolling to Crescent Bay early in the morning or at night, sometimes just to watch divers and would consider it an imposition if her walks were curtailed.
“I even went to the dive shops and asked them to do something — we don’t want our beaches closed,” Horowitz said.
If the curfew were approved, residents and visitors would have been banned from those beaches during stipulated hours.
“I brought this up because the residents around the beaches in North Laguna had problems,” Boyd said in introducing the agenda item. “But it’s not just in North Laguna where this is happening. We might want to take a look at all the small coves.”
Divers appeared to believe they were the target of the curfew proposal.
“We know residents have problems on the beaches,” said Debbie Karimoto on behalf of the divers.
Karimoto said the divers compiled a list of complaints and formed a committee of 30 members to come up with a plan to educate divers and instructors on beach etiquette.
She presented the flier created for OCdiving.com, which listed steps divers should take to reduce tension with oceanfront property owners, including keeping noisy conversations to a minimum.
“Divers don’t linger on the beaches,” Karimoto said. “They are carrying heavy equipment and they are not dressed to party.”
Resident Charlotte Masarik said she and her grandchildren bumped into a large group of divers while “tidepooling” and they couldn’t have been more circumspect.
“So I think word has gotten around,” Masarik said.
South Laguna diver Tim Baskin implored the council not to approve a curfew.
