Enforcing Beach Ordinances - Revenue Opportunity?

[Smiling JOe]

In all my years of living here, I've never once found a glass bottle or piece of glass on the beach. I'd rather see enforcement of people littering since there doesn't seem to be a problem with glass being left on the beach or glass broken on the beach. Fortunately, if you drop you wine bottle on the beach, the sand is rather forgiving.

 

[lenzoe]

I don't think it's an education issue except that, when confronted, most people are going to say "gee, I didn't know that," even when standing right next to one of those beach signs listing the rules.

I had been thinking this was simply an enforcement issue, meaning that all you need is for someone to issue tickets to offenders and you'd be surprised at how quickly people would learn the ordinances. However, I just read through several beach-related ordinances and none of them mention any kind of fine. For example, for the dogs on the beach rule the ordinance specifies a $30 fee to obtain a dog tag, but there's no mention of a fine or any punishment for people that don't follow the rule. Maybe that's typical for ordinances -- never really looked into this previously. Does that mean there's no real ability to enforce such ordinances? Could the beach patrol really do anything to someone who refuses to follow a rule?

Source:
CODE ENFORCEMENT LINKS TO POPULAR CODES, ORDINANCES, & STATUTES

 

[Beachgirl]

I agree the laws should be enforced. Please keep in mind that responsible pet owners (the ones that get the required permits) adhere to the rules, including picking up after their pets.

 

[enfuego]

I don't think it's an education issue except that, when confronted, most people are going to say "gee, I didn't know that," even when standing right next to one of those beach signs listing the rules.

I had been thinking this was simply an enforcement issue, meaning that all you need is for someone to issue tickets to offenders and you'd be surprised at how quickly people would learn the ordinances. However, I just read through several beach-related ordinances and none of them mention any kind of fine. For example, for the dogs on the beach rule the ordinance specifies a $30 fee to obtain a dog tag, but there's no mention of a fine or any punishment for people that don't follow the rule. Maybe that's typical for ordinances -- never really looked into this previously. Does that mean there's no real ability to enforce such ordinances? Could the beach patrol really do anything to someone who refuses to follow a rule?

Source:
CODE ENFORCEMENT LINKS TO POPULAR CODES, ORDINANCES, & STATUTES

Hence the reason education is an important component. Cleaning up and enforcing the ordinances that are already in place would be a good start.

 

[miznotebook]

I looked at the court records for recent weeks on the county Web site, and they showed that someone was cited on Feb. 28 for having a dog or dogs on the beach in a state park in violation of county ordinance. The person entered a guilty plea and was assessed a $51.62 fine. From the records, it appears that for the past few weeks the focus has been on catching speeders, intoxicated drivers, underage drinkers, and people using illegal drugs. People have been charged with domestic violence, battery, grand theft, and exploitation of the elderly. I expect we will probably be seeing more citations for dogs on the beach and glass on the beach once the season gets going. I have seen a lot of those in the court records before.

 

[lenzoe]

I looked at the court records for recent weeks on the county Web site, and they showed that someone was cited on Feb. 28 for having a dog or dogs on the beach in a state park in violation of county ordinance. The person entered a guilty plea and was assessed a $51.62 fine. From the records, it appears that for the past few weeks the focus has been on catching speeders, intoxicated drivers, underage drinkers, and people using illegal drugs. People have been charged with domestic violence, battery, grand theft, and exploitation of the elderly. I expect we will probably be seeing more citations for dogs on the beach and glass on the beach once the season gets going. I have seen a lot of those in the court records before.

So there are fines associated with breaking the ordinances. The fines must be defined somewhere outside of the ordinances themselves. That's good to know. Thanks.

 

[seagrovegirl]

It's a $200. fine for glass on the beach. Enforcement hits Grayton Beach often looking for beach permits and giving out citations as they make their rounds. But I would still like to see MORE enforcement. Wish there were idiot citations, that would be our county's new cash cow.

 

[Smiling JOe]

Why should the county care whether or not someone drinks out of glass or cans if the person with the beverage throws away the garbage when it's empty? It's only the trash that gets left on the beach which presents the problem and there are existing laws dealing with that.

 

[Douglas the Intrepid]

Glass has a tendency to break and broken glass on the beach ruins everyone's day. I personally think the beach enforcement team should work on commision. Things would get fixed sooner rather then later!

 

[happy2Bme]

We find an abundance of plastic cups (thanks Watercolor), cigarette butts, plastic bottles, cigarette butts, chip bags, cigarette butts, beer cans, cigarette butts, and bottle tops....but rarely a glass bottle.