I saw an old post where someone had linked to a website that was put up to complain about Ocean Isle Beach's ordinances, specifically the new one that was passed recently banning cabanas. They were complaining about environmentalists, claiming there are no dogs allowed on the beach, claiming you can no longer protect your kids from the sun (cabanas), basically saying OIB is not family friendly anymore. My post is geared to ALL NC beach residents and visitors and prospective buyers not just Ocean Isle. But I think ordinances are only fair and I have not seen any that are out of line. I'm just wanting some thoughts, nothing intended to stir up any kind of debate or anything...
I believe the dog ordinances have never changed- it's pretty much always been, to my knowledge, in place on most beaches that from something like Memorial Day through Labor day you can't have dogs on the beach *during peak hours, 8a to 6p or something similar* and when they are after hours they must be on a leash at all times and you must scoop up their poop. In the offseason you can have dogs on the beaches all day, anytime, just leashed and scoop their poop. Why is this a problem? Being here all the time now and having visited a lot anyway, I see people all the time who don't obey the ordinances, I see people burying dog poop and covering it up with sand, and I see people bring 3 or 4 dogs on the beach with not one of them on a leash. Most people do scoop poop, and they bring their dog on a leash but they let them off to run in the water. Very few people actually follow the ordinance to a tee. I personally do not have a problem with that if they just scoop the waste up and use common sense......I was on Ocean Isle beach with my newborn in a carrier and my 3 year old beside me, she was running back and forth to the water and building a sand castle. An older man-- and by older, I mean he was older and not in the best of physical shape and bet you anything at all that he could not handle his dogs if they got out of control. He was walking 2 Pit Bulls down the beach, and neither dog was on a leash, the man was carrying the leashes in his hand. My daughter is not afraid of dogs. I recognized the breeds and while I have known gentle pit bulls, I always get nervous about certain breeds and my kids. There were 2 strange dogs, unleashed and with only one elderly man to control them....I made my daughter stay at her sand castle and not run down to the water when they were appraoching but she was still running around in the sand, and the 2 dogs started to come running over- then they saw a bird and both dogs went chasing the seagull, growling...they turned around and came back toward my daughter and started getting low on their haunches, creeping up here. The man just kept walking! I was getting nervous because I had my infant in her carrier there and I know I couldn't fend off 2 large pit bulls and neither could the owner. The dogs started running to my 3 year old, and I jumped up in a panic not knowing what to do, and started walking toward them. They stopped, and then their owner called them and they turned around and went after him and continued to chase sea gulls. I am sure those dogs could end up attacking someone, especially if they sense vulnerability, such as a small child, and had NO business on that beach especially unleashed. If you can't physically control your dog if the need arises you have no business with them out there at any time and this is MY problem- most people with dogs insist they wouldn't hurt a fly, not THEIR dogs. I love dogs, but I'm not stupid..my own dogs would bite a stranger. I know this. So it gets on my nerves all the people who go to the beaches and don't follow leash laws. I'm not worried about your chihuahua or Jack Russell. I don't care whose poodle or dachshund is running free. But people with larger breeds should be more careful.
After that incident I have a fear of going to the beach, afraid that the wrong person will be out there with the wrong dog. I have a cell phone on me but being as that won't help me I have considered getting a taser or even carrying a pistol. It's not the first time someone's had a dog off leash and my daughter tries to run up to pet it before I can catch her and stop her, and the dog obviously would have been a biter. (Most owners know this and are careful, it's just a few bad seeds--and as a parent, I am working with my 3 year old not to fear dogs but never to run up to a strange dog to pet it. I am trying to teach her to leave dogs on the beach alone. Sometimes the owner will stop to chat with my daughter, and their dog is leashed, and I will then let her pet the dog carefully if it's ok with owner and I don't see any other problems..) So to me this demonstrates that the ordinance itself is actually family friendly, it's there to protect people.
About cabana bans....I know why OIB did it and it's rightfully so. People would put up huge cabanas, large enough to park 2 cars under, and "stake their claim" on a section of beach for a week, left empty quite often. If people were putting up cabanas like this for a day and then taking them with them when they leave I personally would have no problem with it but in the summer when there are thousands of other guests at the beach, it's not cool. The beach is not that large as it's eroding, and there's not a whole lot of room. I think you can still get away with having up a little baby cabana and I think the police will not come at you if you have a small cabana for 2-4 peope and you take it down when you aren't under it....BTW you can still put up large beach umbrellas for shade...
About no personal items left on the beach after 7pm, the police aren't strict about this, it's personal items *left unattended*,as in, you're not there still enjoying the beach, you've left or gone in the house for the evening and left a bunch of mess there. It's to stop people from leaving a while crowd of chairs and towels and bags in the middle of the beach when they're *not using them* because they're *not there* *in the evening*...it's not hurting people who leave their stuff up while they go for lunch, although I personally take my stuff with me so that someone else can take my spot, I'm not using it, and when I come back, I'll find another spot if I need to.
So tell me..........in regards to all the beaches.........do people really have a gripe with ordinances such as these? What are your thoughts, do any of these bother you? The argument I hear the most is "We come here and shop and buy food and are tourists and pay $2000 to rent a house, we are paying you to be here, we should be able to ENJOY ourselves"...
As a new local, and someone who's using the beaches with my kids....the only ordinance that really bothers me when people break it is the dog one, because of the close calls with dogs biting. That and the day I stepped in a pile of poop that someone had buried in the soft sand rather than scoop and dispose of properly. That and littering. I could actually care less who puts up cabanas, I can always find myself a spot on the beach.
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OIB Ordinances
