Taking down the tents

PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL – The City Council says beach tents have gotten out of hand.
   
Too many are being left overnight, hindering emergency services, obstructing maintenance crews and confusing nesting sea turtles, officials said.
   
Council members are moving to craft a new ordinance that will attempt to solve the problem, possibly similar to a “Leave No Trace” law enacted by the Walton County Commission three years ago.
   
Some days, “it’s as far as the eye can see,” said beach homeowner Don Docken, a retiree from Chicago who has owned his home near Pier Park for 15 years. Docken said the four-poled canopy tents were an impediment to beach maintenance crews.
   
Council member Jeff Ferguson said the problem has grown larger this year than in years’ past.
   
“They (tourists) want to leave them up for the entire time they are here,” Ferguson said, noting that tents can encourage sheltering by small predators and people camping on the beach overnight, which is illegal.
   
More than 650 of the structures were left all night along the beach on July 2, said Dan Rowe, executive director of the Bay County Tourist Development Council.
   
“You want everyone to have access to the beach,” Rowe said. “It’s an important issue.”
   
Rowe said maintenance crews have only a short time each morning and early evening to rake the sand and pick up trash along a multi-million dollar resource. In addition, a lengthy line of tents left along the shoreline day after day hinders others from enjoying the view.
   
“Some of them are even abandoned by their owners,” he said. “It makes it more difficult to maintain the beach.”
   
If left overnight, the tents can confuse female sea turtles shuffling inland to find a suitable nesting space and hatchlings seeking to inch their way back to the sea, Rowe said.
   
In Walton County, the “Leave No Trace” ordinance states that an item left on the beach, including tents, kayaks or even children’s play equipment, can be ticketed with a note giving the owner 24 hours to remove it.
   
If the item is not removed, it is collected and stored for 48 hours, after which it is thrown away, said Sonny Mares, executive director of the Walton County Tourist Development Council. Exemptions are given on items used by beach vendors.
   
Mares said a “beach ambassador” was added to his TDC staff this year to walk the sand and remind visitors that the tents must be removed each day.
   
Ferguson said he was concerned about tents blocking emergency vehicles called upon for rescue services. In addition, strong storms at night can blow tents away if they are not secure, creating flying missiles and unsightly trash.
   
“We are in the hurricane season,” he said. “There are just swarms of them (tents) this year. More than I’ve ever seen in the past.”