By Steve Plunkett
Briny Breezes is taking steps to clarify that fires on the beach are banned during turtle nesting season and require a permit from November through February.
After inconclusive discussions on April 25, May 23 and July 25 followed by a somewhat heated hour-long workshop on Aug. 15, town aldermen on Aug. 22 approved on first reading an update to the town’s ordinances on sea turtles, artificial lighting and fires on the beach.
“This ordinance has had a fairly robust history to this point,” Town Attorney Keith Davis said as he started the Aug. 22 conversation.
If approved on a second reading, the changes will allow amber, orange or red lights, which sea turtles cannot see, to be visible from the beach instead of insisting only that lights be shielded or aimed away from the sand. The dates of sea turtle nesting season will be corrected to say March 1 to Oct. 31. The code will prohibit fires on the beach during nesting season and require a town permit at other times of the year. Permits will not be needed for small enclosed fires or propane-generated fires, although rubbish fires will be banned.
“You’ll be happy to hear that I’ve read through and I like it the way that it is. I think it represents everything that we ended up discussing,” Mayor Ted Gross said.
The idea of updating the ordinance began in February when Michael Gallacher, general manager of Briny Breezes Inc., asked if a permit would be necessary to build a bonfire on the beach. Davis and colleague Trey Nazzaro quickly noticed that the town code incorrectly said turtle nesting season started on April 1 and devised some other suggested changes.
When the changes were presented at the workshop session, Gross was the strongest critic.
“One of the things that we talked over and over again is about the color scheme that renders the light safe for turtles,” he said then.
“In the memorandum that the lawyers sent us, we can add that to the ordinance,” Council President Liz Loper said.
“Frankly I thought that’s what we were having them do. I thought we’d come to this meeting with that already done,” Gross responded. “I’m kind of baffled because I thought when we came to this meeting we’d be discussing it in the form we had already discussed. But it looks like we’re going all the way back to stage one. … We’ve done this five or four times. Why is this never updated?”
Even with a permit at the right time of the year, someone would not be able to light a bonfire on the beach if it was a “no burn” day, Police Chief Scott McClure said. He said his department would check with Palm Beach County on the day of the planned fire to see if weather conditions would allow it.
The proposed ordinances will return to the council for a second reading at a future meeting.
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