The Huntington Beach City Council narrowly voted Wednesday to ban universal mask and COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the city.

The declaration passed with a 4-3 vote. The meeting adjourned at 2:48 a.m.

Those who’ve tested positive for COVID-19 would still be required to wear masks in certain settings.

Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark introduced the motion at Tuesday night’s meeting. In the declaration, Van Der Mark said mask mandates imposed at City Hall and other parts of the city in 2020 and 2021 “unnecessarily limited the freedoms of the citizens of Huntington Beach — even those who were not around anyone who tested positive for COVID-19 or at risk of any exposure.”

Councilman Dan Kalmick said, “To say that masks don’t work goes against years and years and years of data. And you can tell that to every paint sprayer, to every surgeon, to everyone in a full Class A hazmat suit.”

The resolution asks the city manager to return to the council with a resolution at the next regular meeting declaring the city to be a “no mask and no vaccine mandate city” as a response to COVID-19 or any variants. “Individuals, whether at City Hall or in the private sector, should have a right to choose whether to wear a mask or get vaccinated or boosted,” it reads.

“Government overreach — that’s what it’s about,” said Mayor Pro Tem Gracey Van Der Mark, referring to the mandates. “People who are denied the basic right to work, put food on the table and pay their bills.”

Others questioned why the discussion was being had in the first place, noting that before the vote the city’s policy did not include a mask or vaccine mandate.

“Waste of time,” said Councilwoman Rhonda Bolton, who opposed the measure. “Massive waste of time. Sorry, folks.”

Huntington Beach resident Kevin Davis said, “We already did it once. And did it really solve anything? No. People still died, people still got sick and people got better.”

Another resident of the city, Charles Dickenson, said, “There’s going to be those people that are looking to protect each other. And then there’s going to be people that just had their businesses depleted and want to protect society that way.”

COVID-19 cases have been on the rise again recently in Orange County and neighboring Los Angeles County, according to data from those county’s health departments.

The number of hospital patients statewide who test positive for COVID- 19 is also on the upswing after several weeks of decline, with 1,668 COVID- positive patients reported by the state health department in the latest data.