OCEAN CITY, Md. - As Labor Day approaches and Ocean City prepares for one of the final waves of summer visitors, a new report shows the town’s beach enforcement crews issued few citations this season despite making thousands of contacts with beachgoers about town ordinances.
According to a beach code enforcement report presented to the town Tuesday, crews did not issue a single citation between May 23 and July 10. The first citations came during a one-week period in mid-July, when three were issued for beach tent and canopy violations, and one was issued for a dog on the beach.
The low number of citations, however, does not mean enforcement crews were inactive.
From late May through the final week of August, crews spoke with 1,698 people about issues including drinking, smoking and loud music. They also made 5,685 contacts related to the town’s canopy ordinances and placed 3,047 tags on unoccupied canopies.
Beach Patrol and town leaders say the goal of the enforcement effort has been to educate beachgoers about the rules rather than collect fines.
For beachgoer Alex Rodriguez, the increased presence appeared to make a difference.
“It’s definitely been more tame than it was in the past couple years,” Rodriguez says.
Rodriguez noted that last year, he chose to visit other beaches because Ocean City’s beaches had become too crowded and disruptive.
“You know, I live at the beach. I want to enjoy the beach,” Rodriguez says. “Last year was bad because I couldn’t even find a spot on the beach. There were so many things going on. Even when I did find a spot, there were all kinds of other stuff interrupting my relaxing time.”
This year, Rodriguez tells CoastTV, his experience has been different.
“It wasn’t as bad as I’ve seen it before,” Rodriguez says. “I don’t know if that’s because we have the beach patrol or it was different people. I would like to think it’s because we have the people making sure everyone’s doing the right thing.”
Whether the beach enforcement crews will return next summer has not yet been decided.
Emergency Services Director Joe Theobald is expected to appear before the Mayor and City Council on Sept. 15 to present a final assessment of the season.
