CAPE MAY POINT — Borough Commission is considering a beach curfew during overnight hours for next season.
Deputy Mayor Elise Geiger said the conversation was brought up during a meeting with the Cape May Police Department, which patrols the Cape May Point. She meets with them twice a year to review summertime issues and performance.
“At that meeting, they brought something up that they recommend that we do,” Geiger said Oct. 13. “Cape May City had issues with juveniles taking over the beach in the evenings and having large parties, and they introduced a specific curfew.”
Geiger added that police noted Cape May Point does not have a beach curfew, only a prohibition on sleeping or camping, with fines doubled from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
“Their recommendation is a tool in the toolbox; should there be a large party on the beach in late hours, they would not have the ability to remove them,” she said. “Without a curfew, they couldn’t remove anyone.”
Several municipalities in Cape May County enforce juvenile curfews and other restrictions to manage large crowds, discourage pop-up parties, mobs and fighting among juveniles.
After members of the public and police officers had provided feedback noting an increase in juvenile activity throughout the city, Cape May joined other towns this August in enacting both a general and beach curfew.
In Cape May, it is unlawful for any juvenile to be on the beach, beachfront, beach accessway or city-owned beach property between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless accompanied by an adult. The general curfew made it unlawful for any juvenile to be in public between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless accompanied by an adult.
“I went back and looked up and down the coast to see what other municipalities do and it seems like there are places like Cape May, Wildwood Crest, Spring Lake and Avon all have beach curfews pretty late,” Geiger said, adding that there are also closures with exceptions and several towns with earlier curfews.
Geiger added that she was torn because she likes to walk the beach on summer evenings.
“Summer solstice has a sunrise of 5:34 a.m. and sunset at 8:28 p.m., so it stays pretty light out there in the summertime,” she said. “I don’t want to not allow people to go on the beach, but I see if the police have a tool should such things get out of hand.”
She added that she recommended not making a youth curfew or separate curfew, opting for an 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. timeframe.
Geiger asked substitute solicitor Scott DeWeese about exemptions to the curfew, because some municipalities make surf fishing an exception. She noted that since this potential curfew would be for next year, she wanted to introduce the concept and hear others’ thoughts.
DeWeese said there could be an exemption for surf fishing, but he was concerned about selective enforcement.
“As I said, I feel very bad about telling people they can’t go on our beach at night,” Geiger said. “Stargazing [is] one of the great things that we have here at Cape May Point.”
Commissioner Suzanne Yunghans asked if they had ever had a request for a group to do an activity on the beach like a nighttime wedding. Mayor Anita VanHeeswyk said not in her memory, but a nighttime wedding would be different from the police’s concern.
“I think it might be a good idea to try to connect the hours to Cape May,” VanHeeswyk said. “My thought about this is if we did the hours like Cape May, but we have a slightly different focus.”
VanHeeswyk added that her only concern was that if youths want to go to the beach at night and know they can’t go to Cape May or Lower, they might come to Cape May Point.
“If we put in the group size thing, we have the noise and alcohol and I think that should handle it,” Geiger said. “We could have the same times, because my concern was I just don’t want to prevent people in the middle of the summer who want to walk the beach at 9:30 p.m.”
Yunghans asked if the curfew would include the beach platforms. VanHeeswyk said they could include that if they want.
“That’s a good question,” Geiger said. “I just wanted to have an open discussion.”
Resident Sandy Allison said she was glad the commissioners were bringing up the discussion of a curfew.
“I think it should be consistent with our noise ordinance and spelled out on our signs,” Allison said. “I think the curfew for noise and any kind of alcohol should be on all of our signs going to the beach.”
– By RACHEL SHUBIN/For the Cape May Star and Wave
