Beach furniture ordinance questioned

Longboat Key Commissioner Lynn Larson is taking a stand on beach furniture violations.

Larson witnessed Longboat Key Turtle Watch volunteers open a hatched nest July 22. But she said the excitement of watching four baby turtles head to the Gulf dissipated when she looked around.

“While on the beach, I observed beach lounges that were much closer to the water than the nest,” Larson said.

The town has a voluntary ordinance requiring beach chairs and equipment pulled back each night to avoid trapping female turtles as they try to lay their eggs.  

In recent years, volunteers have seen turtles stuck under furniture as they made their way to the beach for nesting.

“It would be nice if all properties on the beach would commit to removing obstacles, like furniture, each night,” Larson wrote in a July 23 email to Town Manager Dave Bullock. “If we cannot obtain voluntary compliance, I believe we must mandate compliance with a stronger ordinance requiring nightly removal of these obstacles.”

Longboat Key Turtle Watch recently reported lounge chairs that blocked a nest and the ability for sea turtles to make it to the Gulf July 15 in the 5800 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive.

Larson asked Bullock to add a beach furniture ordinance discussion item to a future workshop agenda. 

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].