Bird Island update 07/05/2009
North Carolina to Enforce Nude Beach Ban
By Phil Leggiere onspan style="font-weight: bold;" April 9, 2009/span 1:36 AM |
Long-time nude sunbathing spot in Wilmington, NC shutdown after county officials un-earth old state law and decide to (re) enforce.

UPI reports

Officials with North Carolina's Brunswick County said they have decided to ban nude sunbathing on Bird Island.
The county Board of Commissioners said Monday that Commissioner Marty Cooke will work with the Brunswick County Sheriff's Department to post a sign on the island, which is a popular destination for nude sunbathers, informing visitors that public nudity is illegal in North Carolina, The (Wilmington, N.C.) Star-News reported Tuesday.
Cooke said officials researched the issue after receiving a complaint from a visitor who took his children to the island and discovered that, not only was it not registered as a nude beach but, nude beaches are illegal in the state.
"It has become almost an accepted fact that Bird Island is a nude beach," Cooke said.
He said the sign will also inform beachgoers of other activities that are illegal, including setting off fireworks and littering.

I revisited Bird Island determined to establish the status of enforcement of the anti-nudity laws also known as the NC Decency law. Legality was never a question, only enforcement. I spoke with a Code Enforcement Officer from Sunset Beach. He stated that Sunset Beach did not patrol Bird Island. The turn around tracks from the Sunset Beach ATV patrols are clearly visible on the sand at Bird Island. He also stated that the Brunswick County Police would respond to complains and make occasional patrols issuing citations to nude bathers. Since land access is limited the Brunswick County Police Maritine Unit is likly to come in by boat. Apparently aresting drunken and reckless boaters is not enough to keep them busy and they find time to deny nudists the simple pleasure of skinny dipping in the ocean. span style="font-weight: bold;"Conclusion: the law is sporadically enforced/span.

While I would not encourage anyone to break the law, there are ample dunes on Bird Island which would afford privacy to anyone wishing to sun bathe. Venturing into the wate nude, however, would leave you without a means of quickly covering up , if necessary.

I have no desire , whatsoever, to be a nudist leader of any sort. What I do desire is the use of a couple of hundred yards of beach out ot the hundreds of miles of beach in the Carolinas to be nude without danger of prosecution or is it persecution.

The question is: how badly do we want a clothing optioal beach in the Carolinas? Given, the positive media coverage of the Record Skinny Dip there is a window of oportunity to influence public opinon and possibly the Brunswick County Board to return the beach to a non-enforced status. A letter writing campaign to the editors of newspapers in Willmington, Myrtle Beach and Brunswick County as well as the County Board may be effective.
Sugested Topics
Nude beaches are self policing
Nude beaches are generally cleaner than public beaches
Sexual activity is not tolerated
The benifits to the local economy
Skinny dipping is widly accepted as inocent fun.


Involment of the ACLU and AANR is a possibility. Re-erection of the signs which once existed stating Nude Bathers may be Encountered Beyond This Point would be necessary. I would be willing to make a contribution to this end if public funding was not available.
Grin and Bare it
Art

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