OCEAN CITY, Md. -- Ocean City's newer restrictions for beach coverings are not quite catching on. Visitors are still trying to overcome an anticipated steep learning curve.
In the past week, the Ocean City Beach Patrol told WBOC that they had more than 700 interactions with people who had brought tents or other banned coverings onto the beach.
Those interactions, at least for now, are focused solely on education.
"If somebody has a tent or a canopy or has placed the canopy prior to 10:00 a.m. and left it unattended, those are being tagged so people know that you're not supposed to do that," said Mayor Rick Meehan.
Ordinance:
- Tents(or any closed-in structure) are banned completely
- Canopies(any structure with open sides) are allowed as long as they adhere to the following:
- It must be open on all four sides
- Size limit: no larger than 10ft x 10ft
- Keep at least 3 feet of space between your canopy and your neighbor's
- Anchoring must stay within the footprint of the canopy
- No canopies left unattended before 10:00 a.m.
- Canopies must be placed behind the lifeguard stand
- Baby tents are permitted but no larger than 3ft x 3ft x 3ft
Meehan said town officials were not expecting the new ordinance to catch on quickly, which is why they aren't worried about doling out fines anytime soon.
"We haven't done any fines, we haven't established what that fine would be, really we're looking for compliance," said Meehan. "We want to see what the reaction has been. Working with the beach patrol, if they think at some point we need to move to a different level, then that's something that will be discussed at that time."
Visitors like Tina Mayne, who's in town for the weekend, said she's glad the townis focusing on education.
"I'm from Mt. Airy, I'm not local, we don't really hear about what they have here as far as restrictions," said Mayne.
Meehan said the town will consider putting up additional signage, but in the meantime, officials will rely on social media to help spread the word.
You can find a full list of Ocean City's ordinances here.