Beaches Ban Picnics, Lewd Drawings, Camels

New Jersey Beaches Have An Awful Lot Of Rules, Ranging From Practical To Bizarre

(AP)  Welcome to the Jersey Shore! Have a great time, but please don't dig too deeply in the sand in Surf City (you could get blown up), feed the seagulls in Ocean City (you could catch a disease), or draw dirty pictures in the sand in Belmar (it's rude).

If you have tummy trouble, don't even think of going to Sea Bright, and if you come to Spring Lake, leave your spear gun at home. Other beaches won't let you eat, pick flowers, fly a kite, gamble or ride a camel.

For a state that relies heavily on shore tourism to power its economy, there sure are a lot of things you can't do here.

“I used to take pictures of signs at the entrance to beaches that had long lists of all the things you couldn't do,” said Dery Bennett, head of the American Littoral Society's Sandy Hook chapter. “There was one with a big word `NO' in red letters at the top and all these things listed underneath it, and at the bottom, someone put tape on it and wrote in `fun allowed.”'

Many of the beach towns on Long Beach Island, one of New Jersey's most popular summer vacation spots, have laws prohibiting people from digging deeper than 12 inches in the sand. They stem from an accident several years ago in which a teenager died when a deep hole he was digging collapsed, burying him.

This year, the prohibition is for a different reason: More than 1,000 pieces of unexploded World War I-era military munitions were unwittingly pumped ashore during a winter beach replenishment project decades after being dumped at sea. Authorities say they've removed everything they could, but can't guarantee more munitions don't remain hidden.

“How can you tell a kid not to dig in the sand?” asked Faith O'Dell, who lives near the beach in Surf City, where most of the fuses were found. “It's their nature, it's what kids do. And when your kid says, `Why, Mommy, why can't I dig in the sand?' what do you tell them, that they could blow themselves up?”

Ocean City passed a law in January prohibiting the feeding of seagulls from beaches or other public property. Officials say they acted to prevent bird droppings from contaminating waterways and spreading disease, but also note the avian scavengers have just gotten too brazen in recent years.

Most of the beach laws in New Jersey are common-sense — banning glass containers, fires, pets and nudity — while others go a step further.

Belmar, for example, prohibits smoking, gambling, cursing or changing clothes on its beach. It also says no one may “model, draw or depict any obscene or rude figures upon the beachfront.”

“There are a lot of crazy rules on the beachfront,” Mayor Ken Pringle said. “I've been on the job 17 years and I can't ever recall getting a complaint about that. Mostly, it's just someone's Frisbee going where it's not supposed to.”

In Wildwood, don't even think about riding a camel on the beach. That law came about after a vendor in 2000 proposed charging people a few dollars to ride on a camel's back for the quarter-to-half mile it takes to get from the boardwalk to the water's edge.

“We said no,” Mayor Ernie Troiano said. “Our beaches are as wide as a desert, but you won't find any camels on our sand.”

Other no-nos in Wildwood: standing under the boardwalk and looking up through slits between the boards as people walk above your head.

Elsewhere on the Jersey shore, it is illegal to possess a spear gun on the beach in Spring Lake. In Brigantine, you can't impersonate a member of the beach patrol, or “revel, disport or behave in an annoying, boisterous manner, emitting loud cries.”

Meanwhile, the borough of Sea Bright appears to be very interested in your innards. A sign posted at the entrance to the beach commands: “Do not enter the water if you are experiencing or recovering from diarrhea, or have had any signs of symptoms of a gastrointestinal disease in the past seven days.”

Bill Mack, the borough's water safety director, acknowledges that's something his badge checkers and lifeguards aren't likely to keep tabs on.

“My primary concern is to keep people from drowning,” he said.

Officials in many New Jersey coastal towns acknowledge that parts of their beach laws are rarely, if ever, invoked. Take Long Branch's prohibition on parking a baby carriage on the sand within 15 feet of a beach entrance.

“I can't fathom what the thought process was behind that one,” said Mayor Adam Schneider, who did not know the law existed until a reporter questioned him on it. “We can do a pretty good job of looking foolish when we enforce `real' ordinances, let alone something like this. I just hope I don't get embarrassed and find out I voted for it in the past.”

[anonbychoice]

Seems like you're only allowed to be there to spend money. Don't even think about having any kind of fun...after all that might mean you're human

So sad

[ralan40]

And the point of this story is...?
Posted by soldat44 at 04:54 PM : May 26, 2007


If you have diarrhea, better not rush under the boardwalk, dig a hole, drop your trunks and look up to see if anyone is looking.....and don't make a sound.

[hypnotoad72]

How did they think that drawing was of a willy standing at attention? It was really a poorly drawn hot dog. Honest!

I must agree; the story does come across as "I'm pointless! Please mock me!" The media's own negativity really gets annoying at times and like any other mental illness, depression can be spread from people to people.

Why not stories of soldiers who save others' lives? Police who save others' lives? The cynicism sucks. And not in a good way.

Even the 6 year old sniffing a flower would be better -- But and the media can spin that with all sorts of negativity too by guessing at, assuming she makes it another decade, what her life might be when she turns 16? (I'm hoping for the best or at least something predominantly benign, but these days it's not so easy to do. Gotta have faith and we have to do our part too in our society.)

[feelfree1]

Re: (AP) Welcome to the Jersey Shore! Have a great time, but please don't dig too deeply in the sand in Surf City (you could get blown up), feed the seagulls in Ocean City (you could catch a disease), or draw dirty pictures in the sand in Belmar (it's rude).

If you have tummy trouble, don't even think of going to Sea Bright, and if you come to Spring Lake, leave your spear gun at home. Other beaches won't let you eat, pick flowers, fly a kite, gamble or ride a camel.

###

This sounds like a dream destination for bootlickers!

[victoriarum]

More than 1,000 pieces of unexploded World War I-era military munitions were unwittingly pumped ashore during a winter beach replenishment project decades after being dumped at sea.

-------------------------

What do you expect the ocean to do, waste them like a human body. Well, it's becoming apparent it is now spitting this unfriendly waste back.

Pray for Peace, God Bless You.

I personally enjoy feeding the seagulls in Ocean City, although usually it is unintentional. Also, South Jersey beaches North Jersey beaches!

[soldat44]

And the point of this story is...?