It’s a sad day for nudists who enjoyed letting it all hang out on Trail 6 - the stretch of sand on San Onofre State Beach where clothing was optional.

A panel of judges at the 4th District Court of Appeals sided with state officials who wanted a ban on nude sunbathing. The Naturist Action Committee, which wants to be able to continue the 20-year old clothing-optional tradition, says it’s planning to appeal the verdict.

The nudists argue that San Onofre gets a lot of visitor and tourist revenue because people know there’s a nude beach available, and they pay admission fees and buy annual passes for Trail 6.

And that these visitors spend more money on the San Clemente motels and hotels and restaurants and other tourism service providers, thus helping the local economy.

State officials, on the other hand, argue that there never was a state policy setting aside space for nudity on the beach, and that the nudists were able to do their thing for so long only because the state chose to ignore the violations. But now, after getting complaints, they had to follow procedure and kick out the nude bums.

Photo by jakesmome

Posted on June 30th, 2009 by Thomas
Filed under: California, News