What I find interesting is that there has been no attempt by the County (that I'm aware of) to bring together a contingent of customary use proponents and beachfront owners in an advisory committee of sorts. As was mentioned earlier, Gov. Huckabee proposed some ideas and I'm sure there are others who would participate constructively in discussions. Someone asked me recently if I thought that tourists were the cause of this whole situation. I don't think so, although there is no question that more people multiply the issues. These are some reasons that I think this situation has reached critical mass:
1) More stuff on the beach: tents, umbrellas, huge coolers, "toys/games", food, trash and sometimes much more like: generators, party setups, and so on. You get the idea.
2) More people who believe that they need to set up on the beach from sun up to sun down, thanks to sunscreen, shade devices, huge coolers, see #1.
3) "Reserving" the beach and "Race to the Beach": This isn't about ENJOYING the beach, this is about reserving a substantial section of PRIME beach all day whether the people are using it or not. Vendor setups are a part of this item.
4) Attitudes!!!!! There are plenty of comments about beachfront owner attitudes. What about the people who want to use the beach? Parking in no parking areas, parking in beachfront owner's driveways, using beachfront owner's decks, water, walkovers, equipment, dunes for toileting. Chime in folks. I'm sure there is more.
5) Abuse of dunes: Dogs in dunes, toileting in dunes, game equipment (balls, frisbies, other) in dunes.
I'm sure there is more, but this is enough to get my point across. This isn't just about MORE people, it is about what people feel they are entitled to do on the beach and bring to the beach. Once upon a time, people were respectful of people's property/belongings. People didn't bring more than they could carry easily in one trip. They packed their "stuff" in and packed it out. They cleaned up after themselves. They used a towel or blanket/quilt to sunbathe, they fished or played games AWAY from people who were trying to relax at the beach. They didn't stay from sun up to sun down. They didn't "reserve" their space on the beach. They came, stayed long enough to enjoy swimming, fishing, walking, sunbathing, and then they cleaned up, packed up, and left. In my opinion, for whatever it is worth, THESE and maybe more, are the reasons that we are where we are today.
This is not a one sided issue. It's time that everyone recognizes that there are multiple issues to resolve for all of us to get back to enjoying the beach as friends, neighbors, and guests.
Additions offered by others:
TDC