More beaches in southern Maine will join those of Scarborough and Old Orchard Beach and open with restrictions meant to discourage gathering in groups.

The Wells Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday night to reopen Crescent, Wells, Moody and Drake’s Island beaches.

“The selectmen felt it was time to open the beaches for recreational purposes,” Wells Town Manager Jon Carter said in an email. “Walkers, fishing, surfing, swimming and recreating without sitting or sunbathing.”

Town beaches in Scarborough (Ferry, Pine Point and Higgins) never closed in response to efforts to curtail the spread of coronavirus  nor did Old Orchard Beach. Town officials last week announced that from May 11 to June 1 those beaches would be “walking only” beaches with no sitting to bathe in the sun allowed.

Scarborough Beach State Park has been closed since late March, per order of Gov. Janet Mills, along with many other popular coastal state parks in Southern Maine.

__________________________

CORRECTION: This story was updated at 5:55 p.m. on May 8, 2020, to remove comments attributed to Scarborough Town Manager Tom Hall. The reporter interviewed someone else who was never properly identified.