Cocoa Beach Wants to Fine Tune Beach Regulations

COCOA BEACH — Locals may again get to grill burgers and brats on the beach beneath large canopies without risking a ticket.

Tonight, the Cocoa Beach City Commission will introduce a trio of changes to the March 2012 beach ranger ordinance.

If adopted next month, the changes would permit cooking grills; waive tent regulations across residential Cocoa Beach; and clarify the digging of sand holes that “endanger” beach-goers.

“These are some of the things the city realized could be finer-tuned,” City Manager Bob Majka said of the ordinance.

More details:

• Charcoal grills or grills that use 1-pound propane gas cylinders would be allowed on the sand.

• Restrictions on “tent cities” and side-by-side canopies would be reduced to the two-block, heavily trafficked zone between First Street North and First Street South. Today, canopies cannot exceed 10-by-10 feet in area — and 10-foot buffers are required between tents — across Cocoa Beach’s 6-mile oceanfront.

• Holes dug in sand or dunes would be limited to 18 inches deep, or no deeper than the knees of the group’s shortest person.

It would also become illegal to leave the area without completely re-filling the hole with sand.

Beach rangers give “reasonable commands” to beach-goers regarding a list of regulations. If violators still disobey, a police officer may be called to issue civil citations punishable by up to 60 days in jail and $500 in fines.

Back in 2010, Cocoa Beach police handled rowdy behavior by handing out 340 beach-related civil citations between First Street North and First Street South.

The beach ranger program debuted last year on a trial basis, and commissioners decided to continue the initiative. Since March, beach rangers have responded to 275 calls for service and issued 478 verbal warnings, Cocoa Beach Police Major Jay Harmon said.

The result? Citywide, Harmon said police officers handed out only 16 civil citations in March.

“Once the beach ranger count of verbal warnings went up, there was a sizable drop in civil citations. There’s a direct correlation there,” Harmon said.

Police records technicians do not track how many civil citations stem from beach ranger activities. Harmon said the vast majority of tickets are issued for open alcohol containers and glass bottles on the beach.

Other prohibitions from the beach ranger ordinance remain unchanged, including bans on drunken swimming, mobile DJ booths, campfires, high-volume drinking devices and leaping off the Cocoa Beach Pier.