City eyes beach trenching, drinking
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

Crackdown STAFF PHOTO BY DAN PARKER A proposed new city ordinance would take aim at drivers who use their tires to dig holes in the beach. Mayor Claude Brown says the practice, mostly by drivers of four wheel drive trucks, creates dangerous situations for other motorists and can make it difficult for emergency vehicles to get where they're going on the beach. The council will consider the second reading of the ordinance on Thursday, Jan. 17.

City council members agreed on Thursday, Dec. 20, to tighten the law on using vehicles to trench the beach, but they sent another beach measure - one that would restrict public drinking to before midnight - back to the staff to be rewritten.

Mayor Claude Brown brought the beach trenching measure to the council and council members agreed, with little debate.

Brown said young drivers of four-wheel-drive vehicles sometimes lock their front brakes and use the back tires to dig holes in the sand. Those holes are figurative minefields for beach drivers, Brown said, and in some instances can damage vehicle suspensions.

Most of the offenders are motorists in their early 20s, he said.

"A lot are brave enough that they dig the hole and then sit on the tailgate and drink beer and act stupid," he said before Thursday's meeting. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who gets bent about this."

Brown said he suggested the specific wording of the ordinance because, although it's now unlawful to damage the beach, the proposed ordinance would make it easier for police to cite drivers who dig the holes.

The other ordinance, suggested by Police Chief Sam Russell, would make it illegal to drink alcohol in public view on the beach after midnight. That ordinance would be an effort to curtail rowdy behavior in the early hours of the morning.

"That's when we have the most trouble during Spring Break," Russell said.

"People come from Corpus Christi, where they shut down beaches at 10 p.m., and come to ours. We're just trying to eliminate portion between (midnight) and 2 a.m. that causes problems," Russell told the council.

"Why not 11 or 10 p.m.?" Councilman Charles Bujan asked.

"We don't have a problem then," Russell said, "and we do have locals who like to go down to the beach and have a drink."

"Was there any thought to wording the ordinance to say no alcohol (on beaches)?" Bujan asked.

"You can't dictate what people do inside their campers or trailers," Russell replied.

But Councilman Bubba Jensen objected to a year-round ordinance that restricts beach use.

"I want to be able to set up my barbecue within 30 feet of the dunes and drink a beer as far as state law allows me to," he said. "We keep making ordinances and ordinances. Pretty soon you're not going to be able to come across the ferry. I don't like the taste of beer, but I also don't like the taste of making an ordinance saying you can't drink on the beach."

"I also have reservations in that this is a tourist town, and if we start chopping off our tourists, if word gets around that you can't drink on the beach after midnight, maybe they'll find another place to go," Brown said.

"During summer it's not a problem," Russell said, "but during Spring Break, at 2 (a.m.) we have to shut it down. But problems start at 8 p.m. and escalate, and it gets really bad between midnight and 2."

"As the clock ticks, the traffic gets faster … and doughnuts are more pronounced," said Councilman Keith Donley. "After midnight, if somebody is on the beach, they're just raising hell -- except for the guy out trying to fish. They can't go to Corpus and Rockport doesn't have a beach -- where they going to go, South Padre?"

"It seems to be a time issue," Councilman Rick Pratt noted. "Councilman Bujan says anything we can do to stop drinking on the beach; Claude and Bubba say it's a tourist problem if we stop it. The chief says it's a Spring Break problem. Can we address it during just Spring Break?"

"Why should Port Aransas residents have an ordinance imposed on them year round because there's a two-week problem?" Jensen agreed. "I won't vote for it (as it is), but if we change it to take care of a problem during Spring Break, I'm for it."

Asked if it would be legal to write an ordinance addressing only a specific time period, City Attorney Mike Morris pointed out that some ordinances now address Sundays only.

"You have good reason to distinguish (Spring Break from the rest of the year), because you have a separate problem," Morris said. "You could amend the ordinance any time you want to."

"I see it as a bigger problem, with the police department trying to enforce a one-month law," Bujan objected.

"Conversely, we're talking about writing a 12-month law to take care of a two-week problem," pointed out Councilman Mike Hall.

"It's the first reading (of the ordinance), and some members suggest it should be narrowed down," Councilman Keith McMullin noted. "Could we vote on first reading, and ask the staff and chief to come back with another version that would give him the tools he needs?"

In the end, McMullin made that motion and Councilman Keith Donley seconded it; the council approved it unanimously. The second reading of the ordinance - amended - would presumably come back to the council at its January meeting. That's scheduled for 5 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 17, in the council chamber, 710 W. Ave. A.