WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH — We’ve all been there: after a full day of fun in the sun at the beach and it’s finally time to call it a day packing up everything you brought with you — chairs, boogie boards, beach tents. That’s when you realize how much easier it would be to just leave your stuff on the beach and not have to schlep it all back the next day.
But apart from contributing to the unappealing sight of beach chairs and other ‘beach equipment’ on the beach strand at sunrise, in some municipalities around the area, you could also heave your property thrown out by the town itself.
In Carolina Beach, for example, town ordinances prohibit guests to the beach to leave any beach equipment overnight.
“Except as provided by a specific provision of this Code, all beach equipment must be removed from the beach by its owner or permitted user on a daily basis. All personal items and beach equipment unattended and remaining on the public beach between sunset and sunrise will be classified as abandoned property and will be removed and disposed of by the town,” the code reads.
In fact, it was becoming such a problem at Carolina Beach that the Town Council updated the town’s code and definition of ‘beach equipment,’ as follows:
“Beach equipment means any personal items that are designed or manufactured for use, or actually used, on the beach or in the adjacent tidal waters. Examples include, with limitations, chairs, lounges, umbrellas, cabanas, tents, canopies, awnings, horseshoes and stakes, sailboats, kayaks, paddle vessels, sailboards, surfboards, fishing gear, sporting equipment, rafts, flotation devices, beach toys, baskets, bags, towels, coolers and other personal effects. Beach equipment shall not include municipal trash containers, signage or structures placed by a governmental agency, items placed by a bona fide conservation agency or organization (such as signs or protection devices for turtle nests or equipment approved for use by duly licensed mobile vendors).”
But in their neighbor to the north, Wrightsville Beach, town code is not as specific about what cannot be left overnight — but that does not mean the town permits visitors to leave stuff overnight.
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