Lake County Gazette

The Waukegan City Council is considering adjusting the operating hours of Waukegan Municipal Beach from dawn to dusk, allowing visitors to witness and photograph both sunrise and sunset. "The Waukegan City Council will consider changing the hours at Waukegan Municipal Beach to be from dawn to dusk to allow visitors access for sunrise and sunset viewing and photography," said the council.

A proposal regarding these changes was initially presented to the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee on Oct. 16. However, it was held over during the same day's City Council meeting, according to the council's Nov. 6 meeting agenda.

In accordance with this proposed change, the Waukegan Police Department would be authorized to clear out beachgoers as darkness sets in—a time that fluctuates throughout different seasons. The council's Nov. 6 meeting agenda referred to definitions of dawn and dusk in the Oxford English Dictionary: dawn being described as "the first appearance of light in the sky before sunrise", while dusk signifies when most daylight has faded but it isn't yet fully dark.

Alongside these revisions in beach hours, an amendment is also proposed for a section of the Waukegan Code of Ordinances that would escalate parking fees for vehicles lacking a valid city sticker. This increase entails a rise from $10 to $20 on weekends and from $10 to $30 on holidays, according to the council's Nov. 6 meeting agenda. City residents who display a current city sticker would not be subject to this parking fee.

Interestingly, there has been an evident upward trend concerning gate revenues—with an impressive surge by 47.5% from 2022-2023 in terms of parking pass revenue and nonresident weekend turnout—as per the council's Nov. 6 meeting agenda. On July 4 alone, only 192 city stickers were noted on vehicles compared with an astounding sale of 1,075 parking passes, as reported by the Police Department.