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FALMOUTH – At their meeting last night, Falmouth selectmen invited public comment regarding proposed new regulations governing behavior allowed at the town’s beaches.
The board has been considering a potential ban on alcohol, grills, fires, vaping, and smoking while also limiting games and beach activities allowed on the properties.
Additionally the town is weighing more clearly defining beach hours and parking regulations, music volume, the size of tents, and their policy on pets.
Under the proposal, animals and pets would not be allowed on Falmouth beaches from May 1 to October 1, except for service dogs.
During the public comment portion of the meeting Paula Liptor, Vice President of the Falmouth Heights Mira Vista Neighborhood Association, suggested additional restrictions.
“Ball playing with hard balls and kite flying can be dangerous so we ask that during beach hours you prohibit kite flying and hard balls of any kind,” she told the board, “Second we think there are not enough lifeguards at some beaches, and third we request that you create a monitoring system to track the effectiveness of beach rules.”
Falmouth’s acting Beach Superintendent Bruce Mogardo informed the meeting that there are already policies restricting some of those actions.
“Anytime anybody throws anything if it puts people in danger point or jeopardizes their safety we’re gonna stop it,” he explained.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s a lacrosse ball, a beach balls, a softball, a baseball. If the person can’t throw correctly, if the person can’t catch correctly, and if it’s too close to people, we’re shutting it down.”
The new rules would also limit umbrellas and tents at 10 feet by 10 feet, so long as they don’t obstruct the lifeguard’s ability to respond to any emergencies in the water.
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