Sheeple. what really strikes me is that almost every tourist totally loses all common sense when they enter a beach town and feel the can do what ever they want EXCEPT buying a tag.
The body of laws regarding public access to the shoreline and ocean is called the Public Trust Doctrine. It stems from old English laws preventing coastal property owners from denying (or charging) public access to the shoreline or ocean (which are held in the "public trust") to fish, dock their boat, or seek shelter from a storm. The logic is that a private property owner cannot bar you from accessing a resource that YOU own. There is plenty of US case law upholding the concept. It is a mixed bag on recreational use. You are right that surfing, fishing or swimming below the tide line (high or low depending on state law - Delaware is a "low tide state") cannot be prevented by a land owner. CROSSING private or Township property (EVEN the beach above the tide line) to get to the ocean to swim or surf is generally not a right we are guaranteed, as I understand it.
Mitchell: So, who exactly... technically... owns the sand in OC MD? I got into a heated debate like 4 years ago, when we were staying on like 51st street. We came out of our hotel, rented beach umbrellas etc. and every other tourista thing we could get our hand on and set up shop with my fiance's family on the beach in front of 50th st... So, some hick came up to us, and I only call him a hick because he was an as$hole and we could barely understand him... But basically, he told me that we were not allowed to put our umbrellas and beach equipment on that stretch of beach and that we had to move our belongings up past the 51st entrance... So,I would have maybe listened, but this guy was a redneck, and he TOLD us we HAD to move... So, I basically told him in so many words that he can kiss my as$ and that there is NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING that he can do to make us move. So, then he threated us and said... "IFFFSSS YAZ DOESNT MOVE.... IMMMA MOVE YA" or something like that... So, rather than me and the other 4 guys beat this guy into the sand... I just tell him that He doesnt own the sand and that I was calling the cops.... He told me that he and his wife pay some ANNUAL beach fee, so that they own a contract to have SOLE renting ability on that stretch of sand... My response was... Look retard, I dont care what money you paid the city of OCEAN CITY for this "stretch of sand", but what you paid GUARANTEES you nothing... You cant move us. You cant touch us... You can only hope we listen to you... The police arrived. They almost arrested teh guy for being a moron and yelling about it. And in the end, the police apologized and said that I was right and that this guy technically has not rights on this sand... And his permit doesnt grant him anything... The cops said if he spoke with us for the rest of the day they would come back and arrest him... So, with all that rant being said... Mitchell... please tell me who does really own the sand in OC? I know the hotels control it... but who actually OWNS it... At the end of the day, who makes the final decision on what goes where????
As far as surfing goes,I've never been hasseled in the water if I get in before the tag checkers and guards but if im just chiiling at the beach I feel Sandy Hook is the best deal.I got a car pass there last year.It was $50 for the summer per car.Tough to beat that.
The area below the mean high tide line or low tide line is the area with public rights protected. State Laws vary as to whether that is below mean high or mean low tide. In reality, its pretty hard to say on any given day exactly WHERE mean high tide or low tide actually is, so that muddies the water further. Zach, I'm no expert on the exact situation in OCMD. My recollection is before OCMD first pumped sand in 1988 they required ALL oceanfront property owners who owned a portion of the beach to donate an easement to allow public use. The erosion problem was so bad that most property owners participated and i think the City took the rest to court and the court order the remaining property owners to grant public use easements on the portion of their property that was on or in front of the dune, including those "block-to-block" walkways that are behind the dune. As far as the situation on 51st st, sounds like the cops got it right.
some towns bust balls when you try surfing without it. some don't care if you got a board. they won't give you a hard time about it. usually some kid who thinks he's on a power trip with his cool beach patrol job give you the hard time. the girls that are badge clerks don't care as much. one summer in manasquan about 6 years ago summer of 04 i used to get up every morning mostly to surf. even if there were hardly any waves. my cousin was staying with me, and we rented a house right on the beach, me, him, and some buddies would come back, and forth. best summer of my adult life probably. well i would get up, and surf at 8;00 usually just for a couple hours before getting out to have breakfast. the girls weren't out checking badges yet at 8;00 so i never brought the badge with me then, because i don't think anyone was gonna come in the water, and chase me or anyone else out. one day i went for a surf during business hours, and left my badge pinned on my shoe like a real moron. was in the ocean for like 6 hours before getting out, and not being able to find it. someone jacked it, and why wouldn't they, because it was right in plain sight. it was late july by that time already, and all the badge girls pretty much knew my face from walking on the beach every day. i went the rest of the summer without even having one, because the girls never checked anymore, because they saw it so many times early in the summer, and knew i had purchased one,
Yeah I went to 2nd street yesterday and i nearly **** when I saw the time recived for 25 sents. I was about the ask the meter maid if a bottle of lube came with 5 dollars worth of time put into a meter And a seasonal pass that you can use in any car cost 150 dollars. You can use it at any meter but the beach side of JFK Blvd
I'm not gonna say where, but there are plenty of little legal nooks and cranny's to park close to the sand with no meters.
Yeah I sometimes you gotta be a ealry bird to get them . Plus weekends during the day its a family outting so All the extra stuff you gotta lug to the beach I rather pay for the parking pass. And it can be used on any car so the wife can use it during the week if she takes off and its a easy walk with 3 kids and all the beach stuff she takes
I see you're from Monmouth County. Well don't be alarmed, Bradley Beach has been dealing with this since the 1920's. From Wikipedia- "It was the first location in the United States to charge sea bathers for beach access when it minted its own tin badges in the 1920s." $90 is a bit much though. I believe in my town it's $33 for a beach badge if you buy it in the winter (for the upcoming summer). yea, it's annoying, but it's money going toward cleaning up the town after the bennies leave on labor day. imho charging $8 for a sandwich at Starbucks or $50 for parking for an hour is way more criminal than $50 for a full season of beach access. go figure
Hatteras=no badges,no lifeguards,no 'surfing area' flags,and free parking. More waves than anywhere else,too.
Zach, I believe the section you are referring to is the block between 49th & 50th which is the ocean pines beach club - that brown building north of the gateway - which O.P. residents pay to be a part of - gives them a parking lot and i think showers and a snack bar - they own the Lot and the Building but DO NOT own the beach I'm betting the guy you had a run-in with also thinks the ocean pines home-owners association is a great idea too. Ocean Pines is not even in Ocean City it's on the mainland
Man,you would think for 1 year they would drop the price.Looking at some of these prices for a badge is ridiculous..
It's against my religion to pay to get on the beach. How can you privatize the ocean? The northeast is one massive prison with entirely too many laws and taxes. In North Carolina, beaches are non-jettied, beautiful and free to the public. New York and New Jersey are a nightmare in the summer and it's sad.
