As the busy tourist season gets underway and the population of Carolina Beach increases citations for things like dogs and glass on the beach also go up.

CAROLINA BEACH — It’s not yet summer but the busy season is already underway in Carolina Beach. That means things are starting to ramp up for the Carolina Beach Police Department when it comes to issuing civil citations for things like dogs glass bottles on the beach.

As of last week, the police department had issued 159 civil citations for the year — but the bulk of those citations came within the past 30 days.

According to Chief of Police Chris Spivey, from April 11 through May 10, officers issued 121 civil citations.

There are many reasons for the recent uptick in citations, according to the Carolina Beach Police Department (CBPD).

“The busy season is underway and as you also know, Easter weekend is a very, very busy weekend for our beach. This could explain an uptick for civil citations, as more people on the beach typically involve more interaction,” CBPD spokesperson Scott Hettinger said.

“Additionally, the public input and requests for enforcement of the violations on the beach strand would contribute to more vigilance by the officers and more complaints being called in. Officers are certainly being proactive as our busy season is in full effect,” he said.

The top violations for 2019 so far have been first, glass on the beach, which can cause serious problems for beachgoers if bottles break, followed by dogs on the beach.

Having glass on the beach accounted for 74 of the citations given while dog violations consisted of 30 citations given.

According to town ordinances:

• Dogs are not allowed on the historical wooden parts of the boardwalk at any time.
• Dogs are not allowed in the Boardwalk Business District at any time-this includes sidewalks, walkways, or public property east of Canal Dr. from the north side of Harper Ave. (Hampton Inn location) up to and including Cape Fear Blvd. (Gazebo area).
• April 1st through September 30th, dogs are allowed on the beach during restricted hours before 9:00 a.m. and after 5:00 p.m. Dogs are not allowed on the beach between 9AM-5PM.
• October 1st through March 31st,  dogs are allowed on the beach during all hours.

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