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Letter to the editor

Overnight beach shelters now need city permit

The move is aimed at stopping transients from sleeping on the beach.

By SHEILA MULLANE ESTRADA
Published June 27, 2007

INDIAN ROCKS BEACH - With a growing number of "transients" reportedly sleeping on the beach, homeowners here now must get a permit to leave tents and canopies out overnight.

"People sleeping on the beach creates problems for beachfront owners, " said Mayor Bill Ockunzzi. "Mostly we have a problem with some social behaviors from people who are moving down from other beaches that are no longer easily accessible because of all the condos."

Ockunzzi said he walks on the beach "a lot" in the early morning and sees "people who shouldn't be there because of the condition they are in."

Commissioner R.B. Johnson said the transient problem is a "new phenomenon" that was rarely seen five years ago.

"When popup tents became popular, people started leaving them out overnight. All of a sudden they were like hobo villages, " Johnson said.

When a number of residents complained about the proposed new rules, Commissioner Jose Coppen explained the commission was trying to "prevent people who don't live in the city from setting up tents and staying overnight."

But when Commissioner Terry Hamilton-Wollin cautioned against the city acting like a "beach Gestapo, " her colleagues backed away from an outright ban.

Instead, the new ordinance, passed unanimously, prohibits leaving overnight tents, canopies and volleyball nets or similar equipment on the beach west of the protected dune area without an official permit. It would not apply to umbrellas or chairs. The new rules also apply to city parks and other public property.

But, unlike many other city permits, this one is free.

And apparently no one will be in trouble if they don't get one - unless a neighbor complains.

"It will be complaint driven, " interim City Manager Steve Cottrell says. "The permit process just gives residents an opportunity to come in and get the city's blessing for their tents."

Violations of the ordinance could lead to the tents being confiscated as "abandoned property, " Cottrell said, but violators would not be fined. Official permits are in the design phase and are not available yet, Cottrell said.

In the meantime, the city will issue standard building permits to residents requesting them.

The commission also directed the city administration to cancel a citation issued to Mary Holmes for a canopy she left on the beach earlier this month.

"I got a ticket today, " Holmes said, explaining she put the canopy up so that she could watch her visiting grandchildren play in the water. "It's too hard to put it up and take it down everyday. I am pleading for the safety of the children, " she said.

Cottrell said Holmes was not issued a formal citation, but rather a "warning" that her beach chairs and tent could endanger turtles coming up on the beach to lay eggs.

"Its fairly rare to hit someone with a ticket right out of the gate, " Cottrell said.

Just how the new ordinance will address the issue of transients sleeping on the beach is not clear.

"I have not received any official law enforcement reports. So far, it appears to be an observed phenomenon, " said Cottrell, adding that the commission discussion was the "first time" he had heard it might be a problem.

[Last modified June 26, 2007, 20:19:03]