Credit: Theresa Stratford
There are rules, there are regulations, and then there are guidelines. Sometimes it’s a blurred line on what a town jurisdiction can enforce when it comes to guidelines.
Seabrook Island Town Council Member Gordon Weis, who is also the chair of the Town’s Environment and Wildlife Committee, recommended that the Town adopt the Seabrook Island Property Owner Association’s (SIPOA) fishing guidelines. He presented a short version of the guidelines and a long version at the November 19 Town Council meeting.
Basically, Weis explained that the guidelines would be for educational purposes for any member of the public wishing to fish on Seabrook Island.
Town Council Member Darryl May pointed out the guidelines are similar to a pamphlet with educational information, but not really something that a Town Council would adopt. He added that the guidelines do not have legal recourse.
Seabrook Island Town Administrator Joe Cronin said that some of the information in the SIPOA fishing guidelines are already in the Town’s ordinance on fishing, like the DNR fishing rules. He went on to say that councils normally do not create guidelines, unless they are further enhancing or clarifying. He used the example of guidelines for approving grant applications.
“Those are tools so that each committee can use the guidelines to make recommendations, but they don’t have the force of law,” Cronin said.
The guidelines could be posted on the Town’s website, but Seabrook Island’s Mayor Bruce Kleinman noted that some of the information in the guidelines could conflict with their current ordinance, even though he said that normally posting something like this on their website would be fine.
“There is plenty of stuff on our website that the Council would never vote on,” Kleinman said. “That is a staff issue. Now, if they posted something that is incorrect, we would have to get involved. The short version is fine, but the long version has some conflicting information. The subject itself needs to be examined because the danger of putting something on there that is inconsistent with our existing ordinance far outweighs the benefit to rushing it. In the long version, it says that people fishing and people swimming should work together and not conflict with each other, but the ordinance gives priority to the swimmers and not fishing. If we think the priority should not be given to swimmers and bystanders, then that is an ordinance question and not just a policy. There is a process here. I think staff should evaluate the short version to determine if it is appropriate for the website and table the long version until we all have the opportunity to go through it in the context of our ordinance.”
Weis commented that going to the Town’s website and SIPOA’s website should be consistent, and if these guidelines were posted in both locations, it should be consistent messaging. He added that the ordinance might need to be reassessed. “Why do the people fishing not have the same rights as the swimmers, especially if they get there first?” Weis asked.
May recommended a compromise of just linking to the SIPOA website. “Our beach is long enough to accommodate both fishing and swimming. They don’t have to be in the same spot,” May suggested.
May went on to say, “I have never been thrilled with lines being thrown out where kids are swimming, so if you just walk 100 yards down from the boardwalk, it is fine. People swim near the boardwalks for the most part. Everyone can do what they want, just not in the exact same place.”
Weis contended that SIPOA and the Town should be on the same page. Kleinman said that he didn’t disagree with that. “I agree with the concept of supporting the same things as SIPOA when it comes to beach safety, but this isn’t the same thing,” he said.
The mayor noted that their current beach ordinance says that code enforcement would ask people who are fishing to stop fishing in the interest of public safety, and it goes on to say that in the event that code enforcement deems the fishing to be unsafe for other users of the beach, the people fishing would be asked to leave the beach. It does not specify priority on who gets there first for either people fishing or swimming.
May found another issue with the guidelines stating that SIPOA officers would have jurisdiction on this issue, but he said that SIPOA does not have code enforcement jurisdiction when it comes to fishing and swimming.
All of the Town Council opposed adopting the guidelines, except for Weis. Kleinman said he would like to revisit this situation at a later date.
