Local beach the ‘hottest nightclub’ at the shore
OCEAN CITY – Citizens and Ocean City Council members raised concerns about the big crowds of teenagers congregating on the beaches in the resort and others harming their quality of life by improperly using public spaces at Second Street and Bay Avenue and on Tenth Street.
The first concerns were voiced during public comment at Thursday’s council meeting. A number of residents around Second and Bay said people are misusing the Green Acres parking lot there.
James Kane read a letter from one of his neighbors, Bill Ritchie, and also spoke on his own behalf about regulations being ignored there. What had been a tranquil neighborhood is now unpleasant because of the conduct, including loud music, profane language, consumption of drugs and alcohol, using the parking lot as a campground and speeding and other traffic issues, Kane said.
The bad conduct continues throughout the summer, day and night, Kane said, adding he has talked to Police Chief Jay Prettyman and First Ward Councilman Terrence Crowley Jr. Kane said under Green Acres regulations the space is not to be used at night and suggested using cables to block off access from sundown to sunup.
Bart Brigidi of Central Avenue has owned rental property in the city for more than 25 years and moved to the resort in 2019. He said the talk around the area – not just from his renters in the Philadelphia region but also from former neighbors in Vineland – is that Ocean City is not feeling safe for families.
He said people are scared to bring their children to the boardwalk because of the big groups of teens gathering there and on the beach at 11th Street. Brigidi said it looks like spontaneous groups of youths gathering. “People are hearing that we’re losing control of the boardwalk,” he said, adding something needs to be done to get better control of the situation.
Councilman Jody Levchuk said the 11th Street beach is “apparently the hottest nightclub at the Jersey shore for teens right now.” He said the problem is only going to get worse because it is free to get in and as more teens show up they can just expand the party across the beach.
Levchuk said the police are doing their best to control the situation but he called it “a parent problem.”
He said he didn’t understand how parents can let their teens go out without any consequences. “Kids think they can come into Ocean City and do what they feel like doing,” Levchuk said. “I can’t stress enough that the police are doing what they can.
“We can’t let our brand get damaged by a bunch of teenage punk kids who are going to come by the hundreds and gather on our beaches and do whatever they want to do,” he said. “Parents need to wake up a little bit and keep their kids away from that area.”
Crowley and Councilwoman Karen Bergman said they want the boardwalk to be safe as possible.
Crowley said it was an “ingenious” idea having the kids congregate on the beach because it keeps them from massing on the boardwalk. He suggested open communication and not having a knee-jerk reaction to the situation.
Bergman said years ago people would call friends on the phone and 20 people would show up, but in the days of social media a thousand can show up.
Councilman Tom Rotondi said what’s happening at Second and Bay is also happening at the 10th Street park. He added it was smart to keep the teens on the beach instead of the boardwalk, but said shore towns should get together to lobby Trenton about the problems, which have been brought about by bad government.
Prettyman had a town hall meeting at the Ocean City Tabernacle last spring to explain new changes in the law that came about with the legalization of recreational marijuana. New regulations make it difficult to enforce laws with people under the age of 21. They make it illegal for police to use the odor of marijuana as cause to search a person under 21 or even ask for consent to search. All an officer can do is seize marijuana – or alcohol – that is in plain view.
What is most frustrating to police, Prettyman told an audience gathered at the Ocean City Tabernacle, is that individuals under the age of 21 do not even have to identify themselves to police officers. An officer can be charged with a third-degree civil rights offense if he or she violates an individual’s rights.
The apparent intent of the law was to keep young people from getting criminal records in the juvenile justice system, which could affect their future, but the ramifications have limited what police can do when faced with teens and others under 21 suspected of committing certain offenses.
By DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff