In beach nourishment projects, the state essentially assumes ownership of the ground the new sand lands upon–precisely the crux for area beach towns wanting to enforce local ordinances that prohibit smoking on the strand.
Wrightsville Beach, for one, enacted a smoking-on-the-beach ban following a supportive November 2012 referendum. But last month town aldermen said they needed some clarity on whether the authority extended beach-wide.
And at Carolina Beach, the town’s council in August 2012 had approved a similar prohibition, though leaders saw it as non-enforceable without the state’s blessing.
“I’m looking right now at the possiblity of trying to file something so that Kure Beach, Carolina Beach and Wrightsville Beach can enforce smoking bans on the beaches,” N.C. Rep. Ted Davis (R-New Hanover) said on Friday.
The District 19 legislator and former New Hanover County commissioner said he was exploring approaches but did not have a target date to submit a bill.
“I want to make sure I’ve got support in the House and Senate before I go through all the hoops to get a bill started,” said Davis. “I think that’s the best way to do it.”
State law gives local governments the authority to regulate smoking in public places. But with Wrightsville Beach credited as the first North Carolina beach town to ban smoking on the shore, there aren’t any related court cases to cite regarding the enforcement on what may be state sand.
“When you do a beach renourishment, that sand that gets put on the beach becomes state property,” Davis said.
Wrightsville Beach Mayor David Cignotti told Port City Daily in January he felt the town had the authority over most of its beach, “but there are some areas that would be questionable, probably the area between the high tide and low tide area.”
Carolina Beach Town Council members agreed late last year they should ask the area’s delegation for legislation clarifying its power to enforce a smoking ban on the sand.
“All we’re talking about is the beach strand, let’s get that clear,” Councilman Steve Shuttleworth noted.
Contact Ben Brown at [email protected] or (910) 772-6335. On Twitter: @benbrownmedia
