Trash on beach has Folly Beach considering alcohol ban

Trash on beach has Folly Beach considering alcohol ban
By Nathan Stewart | Photo Journalists
Published: July 8, 2009
Updated: July 9, 2009
» 17 Comments | Post a Comment

*****Updated 6:00pm*****

Fourth of July celebrations on Folly Beach left beer cans, cups and styrofoam coolers all along the beach. Now some people are calling for a ban on alcohol on Folly Beach. Mayor Carl Beckmann told news 2’s Nate Stewart today, that while he is not behind a ban on alcohol to prevent littering, he did say that other council members are.

‘Ddo you want to impose a ban on alcohol? Personally no, cause like i said that is going to infringe on the rights of the citizens of Folly, if you have a ban on alcohol that effects everybody.“

July 28th is the next scheduled council meeting on Folly. Mayor Beckmann said that the council will bring up a possible alcohol ban, as well as a possible fine increase for littering.

Talks of the ban started after the Forth of July weekend and residents complaining about the mounds of trash around tenth street on Folly Beach. The Mayor had strong words for those doing the littering.

“The people who did this don’t live in this state not only that - care nothing for the beaches here, so those people i would say dont ever come back. I don’t need you, you don’t bring anything here anyway except trash and traffic.“

*****EXTRA POINT*****

On July 5, 2009 the Charleston Waterkeeper, the Charleston Explorer and a handful of committed and patriotic individuals removed over 1,000 pounds of trash off of Morris Island. The litter was a result of 4th of July festivities on the island the day before. A video of that can be Seen on youtube here

Should alcohol be banned on Folly Beach to stop littering?

Should fines be increased for those doing the littering?

Or should officials step up patrols to punish those doing the littering?


*****Updated 11:00am*****
Folly Beach Mayor Carl Beckmann is considering a possible ban on alcohol after the beach was littered with trash from the Fourth’s festivities. Monday he and other city officials and residents were shocked at the massive amount of beer-related trash left on the beach and beside roads and in people’s yards, over the weekend.

Folly is the area’s only beach that allows alcohol consumption, in cups but not in cans or bottles, on the sand. Now that could all change after what happened on the Fourth of July

News two’s Nate Stewart is talking with the Mayor later this afternoon.

Should there should be a ban on alcohol on Folly Beach? Or should officials try and crack down on those responsible?

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Reader Reactions

Flag Comment Posted by Wendi Verbage on July 14, 2009 at 6:07 am
As a resident of the Charleston area and a frequent vistor to the fine shores of folly beach, the littering that happened on the 4th is quite a common occurence. I have seen many families/people leave their trash with no considerations of others or the welling being of the animals/creatures of the beach area. Though the town of Folly should have been better prepared, with more trash recepticales and maybe people (volunteers/community service) could have helped keep the beach cleaner,last year was no better. I don't think the banning of alcohol will keep the amount of trash left on the beach down, and definitely having to poor your can of beer into a cup is a rediculous idea, since it is creating even more trash. Mayor of Folly please be better prepared next year!
Flag Comment Posted by solstudioart on July 11, 2009 at 8:30 pm
Because you lost...
Flag Comment Posted by Sharon on July 11, 2009 at 8:17 pm
You have made some very inappropriate personal assumptions about a small comment I had every right to make. I refuse to become any more involved in your little pissing contest. So, I surrender to your obvious anger and give up. Enjoy your beach home and I hope you find the peace you desire.
Flag Comment Posted by solstudioart on July 11, 2009 at 7:45 pm
To Sharon, I am surprised that anyone would defend the bad behaviour of some of Folly's visitors, yet as a student of human behaviour, I am rarely surprised by anyone's words or actions. Something tells me that you didn't do very well on your SATs, Sharon. If you had, you would know that there is no logical comparison between planes and plane noise, and human beings and litter/drunkeness. All planes make noise. It is a characteristic of airplanes in flight to be very loud. Go to the airport sometime yourself, and check it out. It's probably not too far for you. Not all visitors are pigs. Some are quite pleasant, act appropriately, and are welcome to come back anytime they like. Some visitors urinate on and trash my lawn, some shoot off fireworks in the middle of the night, wreck my car, etc. This is not and should not be acceptable. I find it hard to believe that you would not be ranting in the same situation, since all it took for you to be angered was reading an e-mail. Now if I moved to a neighborhood near the airport, and heard some plane noise, I surely would not be alarmed, Sharon. If however, that plane routinely urinated on me, crashed into my car, or airdropped some dirty diapers onto me, that would really be something else entirely. I think I'd be pretty mad at that airplane. When I moved out here, this was a pretty peaceful little island. People still lived in tents on the beach, or where the boat landing is now. I knew a guy named Richard who lived in a tree on his parents lot. Much has changed. I guess you figure that if I am lucky enough to live here, the rest of the residents of Folly and I should just tolerate anything you and people like you choose to dish out, not so. Folly is and will likely remain a public beach, and you should thank your lucky stars that you can visit if you like. But I promise you, we are not going to tolerate this outrageous and obscene disrespect of our beach. As I said before, I have no use for the input of non-residents because unless you live here, you don't really know. When's the last time 40,000 people flocked to your house, or anyone for that matter? Sharon, stay home, mind your business, and don't pick an intellectual battle that you can't win. And when you are through doing all that, you and every idiot like you, can kiss my tanned butt.
Flag Comment Posted by Sharon on July 11, 2009 at 6:36 pm
People who complain about visitors to their community are like the people who live near the airport and complain about plane noise. Come on - you chose to live at a resort - the taxes and money those visitors spend make it possible for you to keep living there. If you don't like it - MOVE. Complaining about your bread and butter is ridiculous.
Flag Comment Posted by solstudioart on July 10, 2009 at 9:07 am
Alcohol Ban on Folly Beach? My question is not if we should, it's how soon can we do it? I have lived full time on Folly for 20 years, and my family has had a house on Folly since 1987. I really am not interested in the input from anyone that doesn't live here, because there is no possible way that you can understand what the residents of Folly put up with. If you have lived on James Island, Little Oak, Summerville, or are from Ohio, doesn't matter, you don't know. I probably would not even be writing this letter, except for the fact that my front yard still reeks of urine. I am tired of the horrendous behaviour of our visitors, and that includes locals. It is certainly easy to blame college students, and teenagers, but they are not the only offenders. I have had my car wrecked in the middle of the night while it was parked in my front yard, I have had strangers at 3 in the morning partying in my yard, and woken up to their empty beer cans. I have been berated by catcalling teenagers who took offence when I ignored them, as they got drunk in a vacant lot. I have found used condoms, and diapers. I have had my yard filled with trash by a pizza delivery driver who decided to clean out his car in my front yard, being kind enough to leave his redbull and winston packs, along with his employment info, which came in handy..My brother's truck was wrecked by a teenage visitor from Summerville, racing through a stop sign. The offenders do not belong to any particular "class" of people, but I can say for certain that they are not residents or surfers, which promote respecting the beach. I had a woman in a new Volvo suv leave dirty diapers 4 days in a row in my yard. On day 3 I caught her (sober) in the act and offered my trashcans. On day 4, same story. There was not a day 5, probably due to the fact that the contents of her baby's diaper wound up on her windshield somehow. There are trashcans all over the beach, what there is not, is respect for the residents. People think, "whatever, it's the beach" not like this place is someone's home. We need to increase enforcement and fines for litterers, and we need a gigantic sign which informs people as they arrive on the beach. 40 ft containers will not solve the problem of peoples attitudes. Banning alcohol will help. Trust me, Folly will not be a dry island. We have lots of bars which will be happy for the business. Also, keeping people on Center St instead of drunk on the beach, will probably increase sales for shopowners. Once the law goes into place, and I pray it will, I don't think that police will bother anyone quietly having a drink on the beach in a cup, we just want to eliminate and/or have arrested, the troublemakers. Mayor Beckmann, I voted for you, you have our support, please get it done as soon as you can!!!!! Mary L., Folly Beach, SC
Flag Comment Posted by rallens on July 09, 2009 at 7:09 pm
If I’m still living in Charleston this time next year I will personally pay for a 40yd (6 ton) roll off dumpster for the 4th of July festivities at Folly Beach. I’m not at all mad at the people who left their trash lying beside overwhelmed trashcans near the beach. I am upset that the obviously impoverished beach front community did not have the funds or foresight to procure additional refuse removal on one of their busiest weekends of the year. A 40yd roll off costs around $500.00 for a 10 day rental; just in case any Folly residents, city officials, city council members or Mayor Beckmann would like to include that number in any future budget meetings.
Flag Comment Posted by Nathan Stewart on July 09, 2009 at 6:32 pm
***Another update*** The Mayor responded to your comments. Click the local section and look for the article: "Folly Beach Mayor responds to your comments"
Flag Comment Posted by dtfoster on July 09, 2009 at 5:33 pm
With the comment the Mayor made first, I will never bring my out of state relatives to his beach for any occasion. It's out of State people that you need in the summer to spend their money or a lot of places would probably have to close up. Think before you speak
Flag Comment Posted by folly res on July 09, 2009 at 8:07 am
First off YES the Mayor is an idiot for more reasons than I have time, but blaming out of towners is asinine to say the least. We still have the local "Redneck, trashy scum" that visit our beaches and thow diapers, cigarete butts, wrappers and things on the ground without looking twice. If you come to Folly and think it looks "trashy" then volunteer some of your time to come help clean it up, or don't come back! Go to Sullivans where there is no parking, no drinking, and the locals think you should be cutting their grass not swimming in their ocean! If you see someone littering, say something! Embarass the crap out of them smile, wave, and walk away. Banning alcohol would help but we still have dumbazz people all over this state that don't get it.

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