Beach destinations list latest intrusive rules

5/28/2014

Example: Two homos can swap spit in front of your kids on the beach, but don't you dare pull out that e-cigarette!

New Meaning for 'Clean Beaches'

Ocean City, Maryland, is hoping for a little polite conversation.

In fact, according to an article Saturday in the Washington Post, the popular seaside town is targeting bad language in the community.

Sixty baby-blue signs, erected in time for Memorial Day weekend along the boardwalk, wave a chastising finger with the words, "No Profanity Please."

It’s a request, not a law, and it can’t be enforced, the Post says.

“But that's not the point,” Post reporter Theresa Vargas writes. “In a place where slacks are shed for shorts and heels for flip-flops, the measure is one in a long line of attempts to tame the wild that tends to be unleashed this time of year in beach towns, including Ocean City.

Officials hope the season will draw a record number of visitors after a long and brutal winter.

The anti-profanity signs, each 12 inches by 18 inches, hang from lampposts every other block.

In recent weeks, Ocean City has taken other measures to change the place that visitors will now encounter. Officials have banned the sale of laser pointers, which were being aimed menacingly in people's eyes, along with a type of knife that fits in a pocket and easily flips open. They are also moving forward with plans to limit smoking on the beach.

"They're a subliminal reminder to people to be courteous to others," Mayor Richard W. Meehan told the Post. "Times have changed, and we see a lot of things we didn't see a number of years ago. We just want to make sure everybody is on the same page when they visit Ocean City."

Meehan said he expects some people will mock the signs, but he believes more will take notice and appreciate the town's effort to make the boardwalk experience more enjoyable for families.

"I think it will resonate with a large number of people and it will make a difference," he said.

Other coastal towns have found other ways to tackle the challenge of making some visitors feel more comfortable by limiting the behaviors of others. In Wildwood, New Jersey, sagging pants are now banned on the boardwalk, along with walking barefoot and shirtless after 8 p.m. In Dewey Beach, Delaware, the fines for public urination have increased to $200.

And this month, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, banned smoking on the boardwalk and much of the beach. Nearby Bethany Beach, Delaware, expanded a similar ban to include e-cigarettes.

Last year, a council member in Ocean City proposed banning baggy pants and shorts, but the measure did not move forward.

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