MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - Standardized beach rules have been in place along Grand Strand beaches since May, and after weeks of enforcement lifeguards say the rules make the beach safer.
Lloyd Burruss and his extended family from Charlottesville, VA, quickly got a crash course in one of the rules when they decided to bring tents to the beach in Myrtle Beach this year.
"The first day we set them up, we set them up together because we're all family, and there's a rule that they have to be ten feet apart," Burruss said. "One of the lifeguards stopped by and told us that."
That rule about keeping tents and large umbrellas spaced out is a direct result of the standardized beach rules. North Myrtle Beach started the rule, and it became a model for the other Grand Strand Beaches. The purpose is to be sure lifeguards and medics can get around people in an emergency. In some previous cases, emergency responders had to duck under tents that were tied together to get to someone in need on the other side.
"With this ordinance in place it's allowing some kind of order out here and structure, and overall big picture it's making it nice for everybody," commented Wes Cox, a lifeguard supervisor for Lack's Beach Service.
Cox said the standardized rules have also re-emphasized the fact that umbrellas and tents cannot be forward of the life guard stands. He cannot definitively attribute any rescues this year to the rules, but he said he is sure they help.
"Every little factor that we do out here to take precaution to better make the beaches safe, it all has a big impact on the end as far as water safety goes," Cox said.
Beachgoers like Burruss said they just have to learn the rules. Once they know what they can and cannot it is not a problem he said.
"If they can just keep us back here and out of their way it makes their job easier, and more power to them," Burruss said. "I'm fine right here."
The standardized beach rules also require tents, umbrellas and any other belongings to be removed overnight. In North Myrtle Beach, city spokesperson Pat Dowling said there has been a noticeable decline this summer in the amount of things that workers have to collect when they are doing their morning beach clean-up and maintenance.
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