SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The town’s police chief says tents put a tremendous strain on those who patrol Surfside’s beach.
Surfside is the only area on the Grand Strand to allow tents on its beach.
In the past, tents could go up without many restrictions until the town decided to ban them.
“There were so many of them that there was no line-of-sight visibility, because it was so crowded that it was pushing in front of the lifeguard stands,” said Surfside police chief Kenneth Hofmann.
Surfside’s town council got rid of the ban back in November. Now, tents must now be eight feet from the dune line to make space for emergency vehicles. Tents also can’t be bigger than ten-by-ten feet.
Chief Hofmann says the new ordinance is tough for the town’s seven beach services employees to enforce.
“By the time we could make one pass up the beach and come back, there were 30, 40, sometimes 50 tents in violation by the time we could make another pass,” he said.
Chief Hofmann told Surfside’s town council Tuesday night about how much beach services responds to possible tent violations. The police chief says there were 514 calls about tent violations in July.
He also said there were more calls for smoking, alcohol or beach hazards last month.
“It has been a challenging summer for our beach services staff,” chief Hofmann said.
Chief Hofmann says he wants to inform beachgoers about the tent rules with more signs and other ideas.
“We are going to try to find some ways to mark the tent line, that safety zone behind the tents,” he said.
Town council took no action on the tent ordinance Tuesday night.
Tents must also be ten feet apart and behind lifeguard chairs.
