Should the Town of Carolina Beach be citing females wearing bathing suits that do not fully cover their backside? Well, one resident thinks so, but town leaders have different opinions. (Port City Daily/File)
Should local governments have laws restricting what women can or cannot wear on the beach? One Carolina Beach resident feels strongly that allowing thong bathing suits is against the law and constitutes ‘public nudity’ — leaders not so sure.
CAROLINA BEACH — Should women be allowed to wear what they want to the beach, even if it means showing a bit more skin? In Carolina Beach, one resident has taken particular offense to what they claim are ‘public nudity violations all over the beach,’ including by female lifeguards.
Thongs on the beach have been outright banned in neighboring Kure Beach but in Carolina Beach, the town ordinance isn’t that clear.
The town’s public nudity ordinance states, “It shall be unlawful for any person to appear on any public beach, any public street or in any public park in a state of dress or undress so as to expose to the view of others the human male or female pubic area, pubic hair, anus, vulva or buttocks with less than a fully opaque covering.”
The mentioning of buttocks in the public nudity ordinance, in theory, could mean that thong bathing suits are forbidden. But local leaders are now saying they want to look into the town’s code and possibly ‘bring it into the 21st Century.’
Town Councilman JoDan Garza responded to questions about the issue and said that he thinks that as times progress, bathing suits will inevitably change.
“[It] appears it might be time to update the town code. As times are progressing, so are bathing suits. Overall, I’m pretty cool with all types of bathing suits, so long as genitalia aren’t exposed. I don’t consider ‘buttocks’ genitalia,” Garza said.
Mayor of Carolina Beach Joe Benson had a similar reaction to the town’s laws and said he hopes to have town staff take a look at the code and see how it can be updated to match the societal norms of the times.
“What needs to happen is staff needs to come to us with something that is 21st-century and relevant to the times, give us the first wack at it, we then take that to public comment with the understanding that enforcement relies on people having a firm understanding of the ordinance,” Benson said. “Our society is not static, it evolves. I am not advocating for distasteful but staff needs to put together some recommendations, bring it to us on council, and we get public input.”
A subjective matter
Benson was also quick to point out that as times change so does beach attire and what is considered appropriate.
“Take a look at what 100 years ago what men and women wore on the beach it is an evolution as to how the standards are determined. This is very subjective territory,” he said.
It’s not just about the subjectiveness though, enforcement of such an ordinance could be problematic. Like any law on the books, the police are responsible for enforcement, however, with limited resources available, what police can reasonably be expected to enforce is debatable.
But that didn’t stop the complaining resident to request the Chief of Police Chris Spivey enforce the ordinance.
“I would request that your department start patrolling regularly and enforcing this ordinance on those that are demanding to expose themselves illegally and indecently to the public who are just trying to enjoy a day on the beach,” the resident wrote.
He went further to even claim that the town’s female lifeguards were in violation of the town laws.
“Unfortunately, your first stop needs to be with the female lifeguards who are wearing indecent swimsuits with half of their buttocks exposed — they are in clear violation and this needs to be addressed and corrected immediately,” the concerned resident wrote.
The ultimate concern of the resident is with the ‘family-friendly’ appearance of the beach town and it losing that appeal saying, “if we give an inch they will take a mile and thongs become the norm only to run our families away.”
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