DELAWARE

With tourists incoming, some throw shade at Rehoboth over beach tent rule

The Daily Times

Mark Carnegie from Albany, New York with his grandson Spencer, 3, and family, work in the sand on Rehoboth Beach with their tent set up for protection from the sun.

Mark Carnegie was lying on the sand, carving out a moat around the sandcastle he and his 3-year-old grandson had sculpted.

It was a cool, windy morning last weekend on Rehoboth Beach, and as his family played near the bandstand, some were shielded by a large, red tent.

Little did Carnegie know, but he and his family were violating a new ordinance — the only one of its kind in Delaware — that prohibits tents, canopies and overly large umbrellas on Rehoboth's beach.

The Albany, New York, native, who hadn't been to Rehoboth in about 15 years, had no idea about the new rules.

“Ignorance is no excuse,” he said. “Certainly if someone says anything we will take it down.”

Soon after, two Rehoboth Beach police officers walked past without saying anything.

Carnegie said the tent was mostly used for shading his grandchild, Carnegie said. The ordinance does allow for baby tents, but no bigger than 3 feet high and wide. His was much bigger.

The ordinance has been met with mixed reaction and its first real test will come this weekend as thousands of Memorial Day visitors descend, many, like Carnegie, from out of town who may not now about the change.

BACKGROUND: Rehoboth talks beach regulations for canopies, toilets

The official reason for the ordinance is to keep sight lines open for lifeguards and to make sure people are not engaging in activities that are banned on the beach — such as drinking, smoking and changing clothes — in the tents.

“Tents were so plentiful at peak times and locations they blocked access and visibility to the water’s edge, affecting public safety and everyone’s enjoyment of our beautiful beaches,” said Kathy McGuiness, a Rehoboth Beach City commissioner.

BACKGROUND: 'We are not a campground': Rehoboth weighs beach tent ban

During a Jan. 9, 2017, city commissioners meeting, Rehoboth Beach officials discussed a policy for tents, umbrellas and canopies on the beach for the 2017 summer season.

Many beachgoers say they need tents and canopies to protect themselves from the sun. They say they don't hurt the beaches or people.

While staring at an empty beach on a warm spring day, Chuck Norma, 60, of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, said the ban is a good idea.

“Why do you need the big structures, the easy-ups, things like that?” he said. “It has been beautiful with just the umbrellas all these years. I don’t see why you need these structures.”

Rehoboth isn’t alone. Similar prohibitions have been enacted in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina; Gulf Shores, Alabama; and Seaside Heights, New Jersey.

Bethany Beach, heavily damaged by storms, was going to enact a similar policy but decided to wait for its beach replenishment project to be complete before making a decision.

Rosemary Hardiman, chair of a review committee, said Bethany will monitor what happens in Rehoboth this summer.

BACKGROUND: Rehoboth drives another spike between residents, visitors

Rehoboth Beach commissioners meet Friday, March 17, 2017, at the Rehoboth Volunteer Fire Company.

An ordinance’s roots

Carol Everhart, president of the Rehoboth-Dewey Chamber of Commerce, received many complaints in recent years about oversized umbrellas and tents.

She took the complaints to Rehoboth Beach city commissioners, who passed the ordinance on March 17 after many debated sessions.

The ban limits the size of umbrellas on the beach to be no more than 7 feet, 6 inches in height and 8 feet in diameter.

It also prohibits any sort of tent, awning, canopy, temporary bathroom on the beach unless involved in a ceremony or given permission by the city. It also banned cooking.

The city cited a public safety concern as the No. 1 reason.

“I understand it, if it’s for the greater good,” Carnegie said of Rehoboth’s ordinance.

Others weren’t as understanding. It’s the beginning of what is destined to be a summer full of education on the ordinance as tourists and locals adjust to the new reality on the beach.

Cool and windy weather held back the beach crowds, the weekend before Memorial Day in Rehoboth Beach as the Annual Sidewalk Sale was held and visitors walked the Boardwalk.

No longer a ‘tent city’

In recent years, Carnegie’s red tent would not have stuck out. Beaches like Rehoboth have become inundated with tents and canopies.

McGuiness, the Rehoboth Beach commissioner, said the issue has become "really bad" in the past few years.

"It became a tent city," she said.

People were using tent areas to drink, smoke and, in some cases, go to the bathroom.

"Many were putting all the tents together in a row," McGuiness said, "and people were grilling and having campfires, so it got a little out of control."

Rehoboth Beach Patrol Capt. Kent Buckson said he has seen a gradual increase of the large tents and canopies.

“You can’t see what people are doing in the tents, smoking, drinking alcohol, going to the bathroom, changing, so it's gotten to the point where we needed to patrol the beach in a safe way,” he said. “I am hoping over time people will understand it.”

Susan Davis, 55 of Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, said she understands why people would use a canopy on the drive-on, fishing beach south of Rehoboth, but she doesn't get why people use them on the municipal beach.

“Some of them come in the morning and put them up all day and then they don’t even come and use them, and then I can’t see the beach,” she said. “They can use them on the beach where they bring their cars down there where you can fish and you can put all your stuff underneath them, but the public beaches, I don’t think it’s a party town where you can put up a big canopy.”

When the chamber sent out visitors guides for the coming summer, Everhart said information regarding the ordinance was included to educate those who might be coming.

McGuiness said the tent and canopy ban is not an effort by Rehoboth to keep the beach like it was during the 1950s, like some have alleged.

She said there are parts of the city code and behavior by the council that are “antiquated,” however, she said this ordinance is not part of that.

She points to her pro-business record, saying how the city's businesses have thrived and started to become a year-round destination, that shows not every action taken by the board has its roots in the past.

"This one particular ordinance was more of a health and safety issue," she said. "The complaints have mounted for years to the chamber of commerce, and those were brought forward to us. We did not go out looking to change the code.

"We want the best experience for the most amount of people," she said. "We would not have gotten complaints if this wasn't a problem, and we received a high number of complaints."

'They’re not polluting the environment'

Commissioner Paul Kuhns speaks during a Rehoboth Beach commissioners meeting on Friday, March 17, 2017, at the Rehoboth Volunteer Fire Company.

Not everybody in Rehoboth Beach government saw it the way McGuiness did when it was time to vote.

At the March 17 meeting, when the ordinance was voted on by the council, Rehoboth City Commissioner Paul Kuhns laid out his complaints to the ordinance.

He said he is not in favor of the partial ban and fears a similar situation when Rehoboth Beach tried to ban renters from swimming in pools or using hot tubs on their rental property and the city faced backlash from its residents.

Kuhn, rather, favored a ban that keeps the ordinance as is but allows for canopies so long as they are more than 15 feet apart, back from the water, and tethered down with the tether remaining a safe distance from other beachgoers.

“Worst-case scenario, we see it as an additional problem … and next year we ban them completely,” he said at the March 17 meeting.

However, the rest of the Rehoboth Beach city commissioners did not agree, and the vote passed 6-1 with Kuhns being the lone “nay” vote.

The Bethany Beach Town Council held a workshop to discuss the restrictions on the use of umbrellas, tents and other fixtures on the beach on Tuesday, March 14, 2017.

There are beachgoers, too, who are concerned what the lack of an area to seek shelter from the sun would be for them.

Tracy Orlan, 48, of Woodbourne, New York, was sitting on a boardwalk bench recently.

She said she understands why the tents and canopies are bad, she’s just not happy about it.

“I have a problem with it because I am very fair skinned, but it does depend on how big the tents get,” she said. “I guess people using them as bathrooms is bad because there are plenty of bathrooms along the beach, but I don’t see a problem with just a regular pop-up tent.”

She’s not alone.

“People are on vacation. They want to be carefree,” said Martha DelManzo, 70, a New York native who comes to Rehoboth often. “They’re not polluting the environment. They’re trying to protect themselves from the rays of the sun. They’re trying to maybe take a nap on the beach or read a book without the sun blaring at you.”

DelManzo had made casual conversation with Carnegie and his family. She, too, is from near Albany.

“These people buried the stakes of their umbrella very deep so it wouldn’t blow away,” DelManzo said. “No one wants to lose their umbrella.

“It’s just another way for them to control people. You’re going to spoil their fun with some stupid ordinance? Is it making the place ugly? I don’t think so.”

Rehoboth has a history of passing ordinances, whether it be popular with the public or not. Many fear that this ordinance is similar to those.

In 2014, the city banned smoking on the beach, boardwalk and public areas nearby.

They also took on Dogfish Head Brewery in 2015 by refusing to allow the brewery to renovate and expand their brewpub on Rehoboth Avenue. The city later relented, and the new brewpub's doors opened on May 19.

Also in 2015, Mayor Sam Cooper proposed an ordinance that would have banned rental homes from opening their pools to guests. The proposed ordinance was faced with heavy backlash, and the city created a licensing system for pools which permits pool’s permits to be revoked for violating local noise ordinances as well as public disturbance laws.

However, McGuiness said the city just wants to keep everyone safe.

“The ultimate goals include health and safety while protecting everyone’s enjoyment of our beaches,” she said.

And she said the use of tents is still permitted for beach weddings and special events so long as they receive a permit from the city.

Next to DelManzo on the beach were Waunita Harvey, 65, and Sharon Smith, 58, of Elkton, Maryland. Smith said her brother had just purchased a tent for her. The nurses say they come to Rehoboth often. But they were discouraged by the ordinance.

“If you take something away from someone, they’re going to go get it somewhere else,” Harvey said.

Perhaps that’s why other places like Bethany are in wait-and-see mode.

A search of the current city code for Virginia Beach finds that the only restriction on umbrellas, tents or canopies on their beaches is that they not be left unattended or used to mark “territory” by beach goers who aren’t present. Open fires, like bonfires, are prohibited, but there is no mention in the code of controlled cooking fires like portable grills.

The city of Wildwood, New Jersey has no restrictions at all on the books. Visitors are free to bring whatever equipment they have, or they can rent them there on the beach from licensed vendors.

“We don’t have restrictions on their use at all,” said Chris Wood, Wildwood’s city clerk. “We’re not moving in that direction, but possibly at a future date it might become an issue.”

About 30 miles to the south, in Ocean City, things are different when it comes to the beach.

The town, too, has no plans to pass an ordinance limiting tents and canopies on the beach, said Ocean City Public Information Officer Jessica Waters.

She said the beach along Ocean City is different than the beaches in Delaware, with the beach at 10 miles long as well as wider than the Bethany, Dewey or Rehoboth beaches.

"There have been informal discussions regarding tent restrictions on the beach," she said, "but the need to do something has never required action on the council level, to my knowledge."

Susan Jones, executive director of the Ocean City Hotel-Motel-Restaurant Association, said the town has similar beach rules as Rehoboth — Ocean City did pass a smoking ban in 2015 — but she said the town has not caught up to Rehoboth Beach yet when it comes to tens and canopies.

But she did say some of the ordinances the towns have for their beaches overlap.

A view of Ocean City from the inlet pier showing a packed beach with umbrellas.

"We don't allow smoking, we don't allow drinking," she said.

Melanie Pursel, the executive director of the Ocean City Chamber of Commerce, said she has not received any complaints about tents and canopies on Ocean City’s beaches.

“I know people have discussed it before, but it’s typically not a major issue,” she said. “I know during the air show, they ask to keep it back because of the people viewing, but it really hasn’t been an issue here.”

The town council has tried to make the beach town a place where there is something for everyone, Jones said.

She doesn't think, though, the tents and canopies are an issue on Ocean City's beaches.

"I can see the tent restriction," she said. "But the canopy? I don't get that."

The beaches in Ocean City, too, are wider than the beaches in Rehoboth Beach, meaning there are more places for people to set up their tents and canopies.

Pursel agreed with both Jones and Waters, saying the Ocean City beaches are wide enough that tents and canopies aren’t as great of an issue as on the Delaware beaches.

Fair-skinned people, she said, often times needs the shade provided by a canopy — shade an umbrella cannot offer as well, she said.

"I can see passing the ordinance from the public safety standpoint," Jones said. "But with our wider beaches, I'm not sure if we have that issue."

Because of the smaller beaches, the beaches up in Delaware might have a higher concentration of tents than they do on Ocean City’s beaches, and she added that, while on Ocean City’s beaches, she has not seen it be an issue.

Pursel, too, said she understands why the ordinance was passed from a public safety standpoint.

“That makes perfect sense,” she said. “I know, in Ocean City, if you’re throwing a ball it has to be by the dune line to not block the lifeguard’s view.”

A blueprint from the south

Umbrellas were set up as cool and windy weather held back the beach crowds, the weekend before Memorial Day in Rehoboth Beach as the Annual Sidewalk Sale was held and visitors walked the Boardwalk.

Rehoboth’s ordinance and its details aren’t a new concept.

The city modeled it after a similar on in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, that banned tents and canopies on the beach from Memorial Day to Labor Day and restricted umbrella size to 7.5 feet in diameter.

And, even between Labor Day and Memorial Day, tents and canopies can only be 12 feet by 12 feet.

Mark Kruea, the public information officer for Myrtle Beach, said after pushback the first year the ban was enacted in 2013, the ordinance has been received well.

“I think the first year was challenging,” he said. “People were accustomed to having that tent, but since then it has gone over well. You have more room on the beach without blocking everything out. You can still get shade from an umbrella and during the non-peak months you can still use a tent. It’s kind of the best of both worlds.”

He said the ordinance was passed because the use of canopies had “exploded,” impacting the function of the beach and blocking the view of lifeguards as well as creating limited emergency access.

Umbrellas of a certain size are allowed because umbrellas are easier to see around and they produce roughly the same amount of shade, he said.

“When you have a bunch of tents together you have a wall and that makes it hard for emergency services to go through,” he said.

But Myrtle Beach isn’t the only city to pass a similar ordinance for similar reasons.

Grant Brown, recreational and cultural affairs director for Gulf Shores, Alabama, said they enacted the ban in 2014.

“We had a situation where on certain parts of the beach when people would place their canopies too close to the water it was difficult for our lifeguards to see what is happening,” he said. “It is a correct and real threat.”

The Gulf Shores ordinance makes it so all tents are on private property and need to be taken down every night as part of the resort city’s “Leave No Footprints” program.

The goal of the program, which is to ensure trash does not go into the Gulf of Mexico and the path for sea turtles to lay their eggs on the beach is not impeded, has served a dual purpose.

“If people have to take everything in at night, it deters people from bringing big stuff onto the beach,” he said.

Rentals for umbrellas were limited as cool and windy weather held back the beach crowds, the weekend before Memorial Day in Rehoboth Beach as the Annual Sidewalk Sale was held and visitors walked the Boardwalk.

Seaside Heights in New Jersey, too, passed a tents and canopy ban over the winter.

The community has not opened up their beaches yet, said borough manager Chris Vaz, so they cannot tell how the ordinance will be received, but he said their ordinance was created in response to complaints from people visiting their beaches.

“It’s pretty much based on complaints from visitors from the beach and observations from beach patrol,” he said. “The mayor and city council would walk the boardwalk and see it all.”

Vaz said there were individuals who would come out to the beaches when the lifeguards went off duty and would bring coolers onto the beach with alcohol and tents.

He said the people coming onto the beach later in the day “did not want to get with the game plan” when it came to picking up after themselves, so Seaside Heights was forced to pass the ordinance.

“We did this for the people we know are visiting the beaches who have been talking to us,” he said. “Those are the people we want to keep coming to the beach, and they have been genuinely supportive of the ordinance.”

Doug Ferrar can be reached at dferrar@delmarvanow.com. Gray Hughes can be reached at rghughes@delmarvanow.com. Jeff Neiburg can be reached at jneiburg@delmarvanow.com.