Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Beach remains open despite rowdy partiers. But watch out for cops.
FORT LAUDERDALE — Residents of a secluded beachfront neighborhood want a gate locked at night to keep out what they see as noisy beer-drinking kids — but got a big fat no from the city, with a quick promise to beef up police patrols.
More than a dozen homeowner associations appealed to Fort Lauderdale to put an end to the late-night bonfire parties by locking a gate that leads to the beach from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. After meeting resistance, they suggested a 45-day trial period.
To bolster their case, fed-up residents sent photos and videos to City Hall of young beachgoers having sex, urinating on jetty rocks and posing nude for selfies — mostly in broad daylight.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old Stephanie Keene lounged by the shoreline with three friends, not far from the private beach reserved for condo residents. The Weston teen has been coming here since middle school but says the secluded beach has
turned into more of a teen scene of late.
“People do party here,” said Keene, a senior at Cypress Bay High who has seen other kids getting lit but not getting nude.
“This beach is more private than others,” she said. “But I’ve never seen anyone naked or having sex on this beach.”
The normally quiet neighborhood at the southernmost end of Fort Lauderdale beach turned into a party haven soon after the pandemic hit last year, residents say.
The high school crowds usually show up on weekends after posting invites on Snapchat, said Roman Contreras, 19, of Fort Lauderdale.
“It’s a really chill and exclusive place to be,” said Contreras, a senior at Western High who came to the jetty Wednesday to relax with three buddies. “People come in mass groups. They feel like it’s their beach.”
But when they get too close to the private beach in front of Point of Americas, they usually get a reminder that it’s not, he said.
“We’ve run into problems if we get too close to the private beach with people telling us we can’t be here because we don’t live here,” he said. “If we’re here by the rocks they leave us alone. Unless we have too many people, like 200. Then they call the cops. A lot of people run before the cops get here.”
Sometimes, when a party gets shut down, the kids will take the party to the jetties even if it’s late at night, Contreras said.
A locked gate probably wouldn’t keep them away, he said.
“If it’s a big group, everyone is going to jump the gate,” he said. “You can’t arrest 200 kids.”
Some condo residents don’t like their new view.
Caroline McNair, a resident of the Everglades House condo next to Point of Americas, really would like to see the crowds find another place to go.
Her once quiet neighborhood has turned into an anything-goes spot on weekends, she said.
McNair has gotten used to seeing men urinate in the bushes outside her condo.
“They stand at the hedge and pee in the bushes,” she said. “I see them out there while I’m washing dishes.”
Stephan Semsch, a resident at Point of Americas, says one kid threw a bottle at him after he asked him to stop throwing bottles in the ocean.
“I’ve seen buoys ripped out of the ocean,” he told commissioners. “Signs torn down. Aggressive behavior. Broken bottles, condoms, clothes.”
When residents call police, it can sometimes take hours for them to show up, he said.
That section of the beach has no lifeguard, said Hy Montero, president of the Point of Americas 2 condo association leading the charge for a locked gate.
Maybe it’s time for that to change, he said, especially if police were to respond more quickly if summoned by a lifeguard.
Commissioner Ben Sorensen said he plans to look into whether a lifeguard station can be set up near the jetty.
Sorensen, who represents the neighborhood, insisted the gate remain open at all hours despite all the complaints.
“My focus is on doing the right thing,” he said. “If doing the right thing exposes us to litigation, we’ve got a great city attorney and staff. I will stand strongly for public access to public lands and our beaches.”
Now the condo critics are researching all options, Montero said.
“All cards are on the table,” he said. “We’ll be meeting with our attorney this week. Stay tuned.”
Mayor Dean Trantalis said he was game to try the 45-day trial experiment to see if it did any good.
“We have nothing to lose by seeing if this works,” he said.
Sorensen had a quick retort.
“Mayor, we have everything to lose,” he said. “This is a public beach. Someone who lives in Coconut Creek has as much right to the beach as someone who lives in Fort Lauderdale. I don’t think it’s appropriate to restrict access to our public beach.”
Instead, the city will beef up police patrols and add another trash can to help curb littering.
“It’s important that our beaches are open and accessible to all,” Sorensen said. “If we have nudity, we have to address that. We’ll have a bigger police presence there — and not just on weekends.”
Fort Lauderdale police urge residents to call the department’s non-emergency number (954-7644357) if they see nudity, public sex or littering.