A judge has ruled against plans to ban nudity at San Onofre State Park after Labor Day.
Orange County Superior Court Judge Sheila Fell ruled Wednesday that state parks officials can cite sunbathers and swimmers in the buff only if a member of the public complains, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The California Department of Parks and Recreation sought the ban in an effort to deter lewd behavior at San Onofre's Trail 6 near Camp Pendleton. Nudity is a decades-old practice at the beach, which straddles San Diego and Orange counties.
Fell's ruling did not stipulate that a ban was uncalled for but rather that state officials could not enforce the policy change because they hadn't held a public hearing on the matter.
"It's premature to say what our next steps might be," Parks and Recreation spokesman Roy Stearns told The Times. But in the meantime, the department will follow the judge's directive, he said.
The state's plans to enforce the nudity ban after Labor Day were challenged by naturalists who say it would unfairly punish those who do not engage in lewd behavior on the beach.
