Dewey officials discuss tents, canopies on beach

After a lengthy discussion Nov. 15 about potential restrictions on the use of canopies and tents on the beach – size, location, distance between them, etc. – Dewey Beach commissioners decided on a simple solution.

Members settled on a single proposed rule to get to the crux of the problem. At next month’s meeting, commissioners will likely consider prohibiting people from placing unoccupied canopies and tents on the beach before lifeguards start their shifts at 9 a.m.

While some other neighboring communities have restricted or banned canopies and tents on beaches, Dewey officials were ultimately reluctant to make things difficult without evidence that there is a significant problem requiring stricter action.

The board questioned Dewey Beach Patrol Capt. Todd Fritchman about his experiences with canopies and tents and whether they obstruct the work of lifeguards or cause other problems on the beach.

“We have no safety concerns,” Fritchman said. “We have no injuries from moving canopies or tents blowing and harming anyone. We get them down when we have to, if a storm comes, but we have no injuries on record from any of these devices.”

Commissioners considered requiring canopies and tents to be placed at least 15 feet behind lifeguard chairs, or even 10 feet. Fritchman said lifeguards routinely direct people to move any that block their view, and there has been complete compliance with their requests.

Two residents commented on a recommendation from the town’s charter and code review committee to amend town code to regulate canopies and tents on the beach. One resident was in favor, while the other opposed the proposal.

Debbie Dorazio of Caroline Street encouraged commissioners to enact restrictions.

“The canopies are getting bigger and more crowded,” she said. “It’s a bunch of kids with coolers, and more kids with coolers, and louder. There are a lot of beaches that don’t have them for a reason. I find them disruptive.”

Harry Gallagher of Clayton Street said requiring 10 feet between canopies or tents, as the original proposal recommended, would be inconvenient for families using more than one of the structures for shade. 

“I don’t really agree with the way this is laid out or going,” Gallagher said. “Especially with the 10-foot thing. If you have a family that comes down, puts up a 12-by-12 canopy and they’ve got to be 10 feet away – for grandma and the missus and whoever – [then] you’re shouting at this other person 10 feet away. I don't see why we’re putting these regulations in place.”

Gallagher walked to the head of the table where commissioners sit and handed the end of a tape measure to Mayor Bill Stevens. Gallagher walked backward, measuring 10 feet as the tape unwound from its case, then stopped.

“Can you hear me down there?” Gallagher called out to Stevens, crouching as if he were yelling from under one canopy to another. “How’s it going down there, grandma?”

Gallagher also said he worries about lifeguards having to enforce the proposed rules. 

Dewey Beach Police Chief Constance Speake agreed later in the meeting.

“Now we’re expecting our guards to go and confront people,” Speake said, launching into a hypothetical scenario in which a lifeguard has to enforce the proposed rule.

“You’re too close to the lifeguard stand,” Speake said, as if she were a lifeguard. “You’re not 10 feet. The law is 10 feet.”

The lifeguard would measure the distance between tents and tell people to move their tents or canopies.

“The people are irate and there’s a confrontation, and then our lifeguards could get assaulted,” Speake said. “Then they have to call us, and we’re locking people up because of a tent.”

“I don’t like regulating space,” said Commissioner Paul Bauer. “I do understand if we put a time, don’t set up at 6 o'clock in the morning and come down at 2 in the afternoon. I think that’s the complaint that most people have.”