North Wildwood City Council approves new curfew for teenagers and beach tent ban
NORTH WILDWOOD, N.J. (CBS) -- North Wildwood's city council approved a new teen curfew and a ban on large tents along the beach for the 2024 summer season during a Tuesday morning council meeting.
The curfew will take effect from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. for all children under the age of 18. Teenagers who are supervised by their parents or going to and from work will be exempt from the curfew.
Mayor Rosenello said the curfew comes after neighboring Wildwood passed a similar curfew last year.
"With them having that curfew, it was very easy for those teens simply to migrate into North Wildwood after the curfew," Rosenello said. "This, again, is just giving our police department the same tools that most of the other shore town police departments have had now for a couple years."
The council also approved a ban on large tents and cabanas on North Wildwood's severely eroded beaches.
"When you look at the size of our beaches, especially at high tide right now, we just simply don't have the room for people to bring these large shade structures down," Rosenello said. "If the beach grows, and we don't need to keep this restriction in place, we've given ourselves the ability to lift the restriction much quicker."
That situation could happen later this summer as the city and New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy announced a $10 million emergency beach nourishment dredging project to replenish the city's beaches.
Philadelphian Frank Mingacci said he isn't a fan of the curfew.
"I feel like it's a little unfair because I know when I was a kid and I wanted to come down here, I don't want to be limited," Mingacci said. "I want to, like, enjoy my time here."
North Wildwood local Christy Megahan understood why the city decided on a tent ban.
"You used to have so much more land to walk out on," Megahan said. "Now, it's, like, you're literally two feet and in the water."
The ordinance changes take effect on May 15.