Beach restrictions at Huguenot draw ire, officials cite safety concerns

Must we have the "right" to drive everywhere? I read the article "Huegonot restrictions draw ire" and was stunned. A child was hit by a truck and yet, there seemed to be no concern for him, only for the supposedly "God" given right to drive on the beach. I lived in California for the last twenty years and people there seem to recreate just fine without driving onto the beach. I for one don't want to go anywhere near a strip of beach where people can drive. I go to the beach to get away from the noise and pollution of automobiles. C'mon folks. Walking is good for you. Not having cars at the beach is not going to stop anyone from surfing, fishing or any other activity,

Operdoc, I completely agree.

I had never heard of cars being allowed on the beach until I moved here - in my opinion the pollution and noise of cars on the beach is hardly appealing. 

Operdoc, First Coast Surfrider has a lot of members that would agree with that statement. We also have a lot of members that don't. When I spoke to the national office for the Surfrider Foundation on the issue of beach driving they said there aren't any standards, but it's pretty much a no-no on the West Coast and accepted on the East in certain areas. We've received a lot of complaints about not being more vocal on the issue, but with membership split what can we say?

In our eyes the biggest concern is access and environmental balance. Huguenot is often used by fishermen, kiteboarders, longboarders, kayakers and other sea sports that have a ton of gear with them, so driving on the beach is almost a requirement given the sheer size of Huguenot. Many of those sea sport patrons feel connected to the beach and take care of it. They know how to respect the area and are often our biggest allies in spreading awareness about conservation and environmental protection.

The problem comes with visitors that don't have the same respect and unfortunately ruin things for everyone by harming wildlife, trashing the space and making the area unsafe for families. Does everyone get punished for the ways of a few? Metaphorically speaking to cut driving at Huguenot would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater. I think there's a way to find balance, but it needs more support from the city for creating an educational park that informs patrons about it's inhabitants... human, plant and animal. At the same time there needs to be more security for those that it will never sink in with. 

The proposed plan is massive and has lots of drama filled points as well as some really good ones! I don't know how many people have read it cover to cover, but our chapter is a member of the Advisory Board and we're always eager to hear the communities' response as a medium to the city. If anyone else has a comment, please post it here or send us a direct message. The next board meeting is in early May and the new plans will be going out soon. The previous draft positively addressed 17 of our 20 requests and I'm eager to see how the city has taken everyone's comments since the last public meeting. 

Protect our oceans, waves and beaches: http://firstcoastsurfrider.com

i agree with not allowing cars on our beaches! what moron thought that up, anyroad??  i once spent a weekend in daytona and TRIED to have a relaxing time on the beach there, but the constant hum of motors and the THUD THUD THUD of everybody trying to share their "music" with me, and the constant aroma of petrol permeating the air, was absolutely VILE! not to mention that i worried about everybody else's little kid darting back and forth in front of traffic! granted, the traffic was moving slowly, but it doesn't take much for a tragedy to happen, and that's what allowing motorized vehicles (other than lifeguard and emergency vehicles) is; a tragedy waiting to happen. and, it HAS happened to many families, unfortunately.

i know that many people have a rigid mindset that "oh, such a tragedy won't happen to ME." yeah, right. ask the families who have had loved ones run over on the beach. i remember a newstory of one chap who ran over two teenage girls and kept on driving! he'd felt a "bump"... but apparently never even bothered to look back to see what the "bump" was!

crikey!

deep peace, miscmood