Dana Point must argue why it needs to shut off access to Strand Beach by installing two gates after the state's highest court denied a petition to review the case Wednesday.
The city is fighting two lawsuits regarding the gates, one filed by the Surfrider Foundation, another filed by the California Coastal Commission.
The city has argued that by keeping beach access closed from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. Oct.-April and from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. May-Sept., it is helping keep beachgoers safer.
Last year Judge Joan M. Lewis criticized the city for acting "arbitrarily and capriciously" by installing the gates.
The state supreme court's decision not to hear the petition was a setback, Dana Point City Attorney Patrick Muñoz told the Orange County Register.
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