Good news? Hanging wet bathing suits, towels on porches still OK in Belmar

BELMAR It was blasted as "ridiculous" and "absurd," but now Mayor Matt Doherty is calling a proposal to ban the hanging of bathing suits and wet linens on front porches in the borough a "non issue."

On Tuesday night, the Borough Council introduced an ordinance that, if approved, would amend the Housing and Property Maintenance section of borough's general ordinances to prohibit the storage of abandoned or non-functioning automobiles, unused machinery and/or building materials that will not be used immediately in yards. The ordinance revisions would also prohibit residents of any residential zone from building or maintaining fires that emit "noxious or objectionable odors."

The ordinance initially also included language that would make it unlawful to place, hang or exhibit wet bathing suits, wet linens or washed articles in any street fronting yards, porches or roofs of any premises or house in Belmar.

That language drew a strong backlash of reaction from some borough residents and Internet commenters. However, Doherty said this amendment was removed from the ordinance before it was even introduced.

"It was something our code enforcement people put in there because we were addressing a bunch of other issues and they felt it was worthwhile to include this at the same time," Doherty said on Wednesday. "But I just thought it went too far, so it was taken out."

The other amendments were introduced as planned and will be voted on at the Borough Council's February meeting, he said.

"As mayor, people are never shy about voicing their complaints to me on any issue. I've even heard complaints about the church bells in town," Doherty said. "But honestly, this was never something I had ever heard of being a problem before."

While Doherty said shore towns sometimes have to be a little more stringent with their property maintenance ordinances and code enforcement than many inland communities, he said there has to be a balance.

"Shore towns like Belmar are in the tourism business. We depend on tourism and we depend on people with families coming to our beaches, buying beach badges and visiting our businesses," he said. "Ideally we want people who drive through our town on their way to the beach to say 'I wished I lived in this town' or 'I wish I lived in one of these homes,' but we also want our residents to be happy. So when it comes to property maintenance, this went a little too far. I understood that and now it's a non issue."

Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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Good news? Hanging wet bathing suits, towels on porches still OK in Belmar