Panama City Beach City Council issues temporary beach closure ordinance
Will affect a quarter mile portion of the sandy beach on east end of PCB
PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) - The Panama City Beach City Council passed an emergency beach closure ordinance on Thursday, June 9th. They said the east end of the beach has been a continuous trouble spot.
“Just dispersing the crowds. Keep them from gathering there, 500, 600 young adults down there gathered and hard to control,” Panama City Beach Councilman Phil Chester said.
The ordinance 1587-E will temporarily close about 1/4-mile of beach from the west of Boardwalk Beach Resort to west of Long Beach Resort. The boardwalk is not included, since the hotel has its own private security. Officials said crowds of 300-400 people are often loud and unruly, and this is the sight of a recent shooting. This ordinance is similar to one passed in the spring related to the same area.
In a statement, Police Chief J.R. Talamantez said this area presents an ongoing problem, as he noted violence is on the uptick nationwide. “We need this closure. It is very successful in the spring months. We expect it to be successful during the summer months. Our biggest issue is we have two very large resorts right there with buyers who rent out to high schoolers and young crowds who don’t want to listen to law enforcement.”
Some local are happy about this new rule.
“I feel like what they did and everything, it was for a good cause and a good reason cause they wanna keep the people safe and they wanna keep our city safe,” Panama City Beach Resident Jordan Speed said.
Others, are not so happy.
“There’s some majestic times that happen on the beach, like you know underneath the moonlight and to take that away from people, tourists and locals, I don’t know if I agree with it,” a tourist said.
This closure is from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. through July 31st.
More information can be found here.
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