Overzealous Beach Cleanup

[Matt J]

Perhaps to clarify you should be referring to the TDC clean up crew and not beach service. Beach service is generally considered the guys who provide beach chairs and umbrellas. I'd hate for someone to think that Beach Chairs 4 U is responsible for cleaning the entire beach.

 

[northender]

The beach services are not tasked with rearranging or discarding people's stuff or otherwise enforcing the county rule. That is the job of code enforcement.



my question is how can an enforcement department be tasked with rearranging or discarding people's stuff. I've never seen a police officer
write you a ticket for throwing your cigarette butt out the window and then pick it up for you.

 

[beachma]

The beach services are not tasked with rearranging or discarding people's stuff or otherwise enforcing the county rule. That is the job of code enforcement.



my question is how can an enforcement department be tasked with rearranging or discarding people's stuff. I've never seen a police officer
write you a ticket for throwing your cigarette butt out the window and then pick it up for you.

I'm on vacation...and I'm ready to hit the beach, but I must say I don't understand this post at all. It isn't a private citizen's duty/responsibility to enforce the law. That's what South Walton pays their beach patrol people to do. I've seen items tagged and when not picked up heaved into the back of a South Walton beach patrol truck the next morning. To infer that it's ok for private citizens to carry out enforcement crosses over into dangerous territory. We weren't breaking the law by setting up our beach chairs early in the morning...but I would say that Mr. Bark Park (I've identified him by his t-shirt) was closer to breaking laws by disposing of my personal property because he felt he was doing his part to enforce a law. Picking up trash, cigarette butts, empty water bottles etc. is definitely doing the part of a conscientious citizen and I do it as a visitor. If I had the good fortune of living here, I would pick up trash...but let the proper authorities handle the enforcement of the laws. If I felt they weren't doing a good enough job, I'd make calls and attend whatever local town meetings necessary to voice my dissatisfaction! End of my rant! I'm going to the beach and will let this subject rest. I have put my signs on my chairs each morning before we leave them for a walk...so far no more incidents!

 

[grant blackwell]

The guy that is taking other people's property and disposing of it is breaking the law. If a chair, cooler or umbrella has clearly been abandoned on the beach, which does happen all of the time it is commendable for a citizen to remove it as a beach cleanup volunteer. From what I read, this guy is a menace and if seen again should be reported to the beach patrol at 267-2000. I recently set up two tents at Grayton early one morning for a family outing and someone destroyed them and removed them. Probably the same guy. I confirmed that it was not Code Enforcement.. My cost= over $300. I was only gone for less than an hour.

 

[NotDeadYet]

I guess my post was confusing.
My point was exactly that - that private citizens including the beach service employees are not tasked with enforcement on the beach. Enforcement of the leave no trace ordinance is the job of the county code enforcement office.
So anyone moving or discarding someone else's stuff on the beach who is not a code enforcement officer or a law enforcement officer is not authorized, is my understanding of the ordinance.

 

[scooterbug44]

No, it's not a private citizen's responsibility to enforce the ordinance, but dealing with piles of other people's junk 365 days a year gets to you.

Noone complains about the multiple organized beach cleanups every year (especially the one on July 5th) or the many bags of trash locals clean off the beaches every year, but somehow picking up abandoned chairs and tents is akin to kicking a whole litter of puppies.

Yes, some people are getting a little aggressive about it, but I really can't blame them - it's incredibly frustrating to constantly see the increasing amounts of crap littering the beaches w/ no owners in sight.

 

[Just Curious]

Cleaning up trash is one thing, but throwing away someone's chair is another. I don't like people leaving their crap overnight either, but if everybody went around doing what they thought was the right thing we would have a mess on our hands. That is why we have Code Enforcement; they have a system in place to distinguish what has been left overnight and what wasn't. Since they have started enforcing the code again the beaches look much better. The best thing to do is call them when you see something wrong, and let them handle it.

 

[jd]

No, it's not a private citizen's responsibility to enforce the ordinance, but dealing with piles of other people's junk 365 days a year gets to you.

Noone complains about the multiple organized beach cleanups every year (especially the one on July 5th) or the many bags of trash locals clean off the beaches every year, but somehow picking up abandoned chairs and tents is akin to kicking a whole litter of puppies.

Yes, some people are getting a little aggressive about it, but I really can't blame them - it's incredibly frustrating to constantly see the increasing amounts of crap littering the beaches w/ no owners in sight.

"picking up abandoned chairs and tents..." That's the issue here...are they really abandoned and shouldn't you be 110% sure of that before you take someone's property?

"w/no owners in sight..." Do you ever set up a chair at the beach and then take a walk? What if I want to do a 2 or 3 mile training walk/run on the beach? I would certainly be out of sight, and hen I do get back I would appreciate my chair still being there so I can sit in it!!! I'll be in Seagrove next weekend. I will be placing a chair on the beach and leaving that chair to run 3 miles. Please leave my chair there 'cause I'm gonna need to SIT DOWN when I return!!!

 

[jd]

Cleaning up trash is one thing, but throwing away someone's chair is another. I don't like people leaving their crap overnight either, but if everybody went around doing what they thought was the right thing we would have a mess on our hands. That is why we have Code Enforcement; they have a system in place to distinguish what has been left overnight and what wasn't. Since they have started enforcing the code again the beaches look much better. The best thing to do is call them when you see something wrong, and let them handle it.

Now see how simple and easy this is????

 

[scooterbug44]

You may leave your beach chair or tent TEMPORARILY to take a walk, swim, or a run, but there are literally hundreds and thousands of people who leave their piles of crap there for days or permanently because they can't be bothered to clean up after themselves.

All I am saying is that as those piles of clutter and crap continue to grow at an exponential rate, my outrage at overzealous beach cleaners decreases at an exponential rate............................and I cheer for anyone who takes a stand against it!

I can't take a walk without stepping on abandoned toys & trash, detouring around vacant tents or chairs, or coming across giant holes in the sand that I could hide large pieces of furniture or several bodies in.

People are turning our treasured beaches into landfills - and you wonder why people are taking it upon themselves to clean them up?