Preserve Dennis Bayside Beaches

8 years ago Featured

I was there on 4th of July. Unacceptable behavior. 4 generations of my family have paid taxes and enjoyed and respected the natural beauty. Bayview is a resident only beach. Police do not enforce the existing laws

We respect this beach, and have always picked up other peoples trash. My kids do it too! 4th of July weekend, we where so upset about the trash, and I was there when there was a crowd of the kids that where arrested for Public fornication! Just disgusting! We made a sign that week, This is our Beach. Not your Dump. I was so happy when they re-did the fencing, and the Police officers where there checking all coolers. They kept our sign! We love and respect our beach.

The best way to stop the abuse is to get rid of the drop off.This makes no sense as these people contribute nothing to the town of Dennis and it causes a traffic jam especially on w/e's.

I attended both of the recent meetings regarding beach and access area drop offs, traffic and alcohol. The consensus was that more police involvement is needed. Like most issues it comes down to a budget issue. Adding more police and beach supervision will cost money that will have to be addressed and approved by the town meeting. Additional revenue can be raised to supplement this additional cost by increasing the daily parking at Mayflower and other popular Dennis beaches. Mayflower is in my opinion, the best beach on the Cape and should demand the highest fee to park for the day. Drop offs should be charged to use the beach $5.00 each person or drop offs should be eliminated completely. Fines should be issued for people consuming alcohol on the beach or for parking illegally. Police have to uphold the laws that are currently in place. Parking, drinking and drop offs are issues that have not been enforced and are the cause of our current situation. We have signs saying no drinking on beaches, no drop offs, no parking but no citations are issued. I urge the town to enforce the laws that are currently in place (which would raise revenue), raise the parking fees and return our beaches to the family friendly place they once were.

Long time resident of Cape Cod.

Tired of paying the $150.00 ticket and not being able to get on the beach at 8:30 in the morning.. seriously! The locals want thier beaches back for thier families and children that LIVE here year round!!!¡

delete Just now I'm sorry....but we do not need more law enforcement. I did not appreciate having my cooler searched and my daughter's sandwich smushed and destroyed. It was basically a police state this past weekend. And about the drop offs....many people who drop off, have a house on Taunton/upper Horsefoot and in between, and should be able to drop off on a public road. Some people have mobility issues or have babies or maybe their Beach cart's wheel fell off on the way, on Wade's Way( haha sorry true story!). I've been going to this beach my entire life and my family owns more than one property within walking distance of the beach. Raise the parking lot price and do something about UNDERAGE drinking... absolutely no glass (alcohol or not). But seriously? A family doesn't need their coolers searched and manhandled after they just got 5 kids sunscreened and changed, cooler organized to fit everyone's sandwiches, drinks and snacks and their entire beach cart neatly packed...and walked to the beach with their children from their homes. It is just unnecessary and shouldn't be happening. ESPECIALLY those walking from homes they own or when they paid money to rent for the week.

It is not fair to residents of Dennis who pay taxes that anyone can be dropped off by car or cab and trash our beach. The beach is overcrowded and the town is not profiting from these people.

Dennis Bayside beaches are the best beaches on the Cape. We need to keep them that way

I have been going to Mayflower for 40 years and unfortunatly the drinking, littering and foul language has become terrible. We need to preserve the beauty and the "family" feeling Mayflower once had.

More enforcement needed at Mayflower Beach

Cannot attend this meeting. Thank you for organizing all of us who are homeowners and taxpayers.

I live on Taunton Ave and as bad as the Mayflower beach problems are we have it even worse! The beach at the end of Taunton Ave has no bathrooms, trash barrels, lifeguards or ANY SUPERVISION OR SERVICES AT ALL! But we have just as many drop offs. People come to our beach for exactly that reason. They no that they can do whatever they want with no repercussions. And since they are drop offs at a beach with no bathroom they openly urinate in the tide pools. Just yesterday I sat on the beach and saw person after person announce to their group " I gotta pee" and walk to the tide pool and sit down. Did I say something? No because in the past this particular group has been verbally abusive and vandalized my neighbor's property. Should a woman sitting alone on the beach have to be the one to confront a bunch of drunks?! Another way the Taunton Ave beach is in worse shape is the actual danger in the street. That end of the road is a tight corner and people speed by. When cars are trying to drop off there it creates an even more dangerous situation for people trying to walk by and cross the street. Again we have no services or anyone in charge over here. We have a useless sign that says " no drop offs, Police take notice" people pull up right under it and unload and I can assure you the police do not take notice. They drive right by and don't say a word! In closing please help us! The Taunton Ave beach should only be used by neighbors who have the ability to walk back to their homes to use the bathroom...Period!!! And the town needs to figure out a way to enforce that. Thank you

We can do better than this, good ideas!

Our beach is no longer a family beach.

So happy to see all these comments. When we purchased the house at the very end of horsefoot path there was a sign prohibiting drop offs. It was quickly stolen and was never replaced even though we asked many times. The town administration and the police are ones who should be ashamed and embarrassed by what this town has become. Why did it take what happened this weekend to acknowledge the situation? National and international news coverage perhaps. Do your job!

Mayflower is a beautiful beach, so I understand people wanting to be there. Unfortunately I see the downsides of this demand firsthand. The gate attendants are often argued with and yelled at when the lot is at capacity or people just ignore their directions. Those waiting to try to get in line (six cars waiting only) will circle the neighborhood at a high rate of speed trying to be that person that gets in that line. Folks that can't get in will disregard the "No Parking" signs and park anyway, sometimes partially blocking the street. This situation is an accident waiting to happen which will most likely get the Town of Dennis sued. In my opinion, the drop offs need to be curtailed or eliminated. People get dropped off in droves (last week a limo bus and the usual Ubers!) and simply use the facilities (which are already failing and due to be replaced) and trash without contributing any money. As a taxpayer I can say I feel lucky to be in Dennis, but so sad that Mayflower Beach is truly out of hand :( Bring back a safe family friendly place please!

No one paid attention to the former Town Administrator while he got rid of over 20 loyal hard working employees . The Administrator recieved a % of the money he saved the town In his contract hence emoloyees salaries provided a nice check. So now the town runs short handed and his actions has given the Town a reputation as not a nice place to work, stability and growth are basically not there and HR is far from a resource. Hopefully going forward a Town Administrator will do whats right for the town and the people who live here. There is no reason to raise a sticker price as the town makes loads of cash from Beaches. Hire a few more people for this summer problem for coverage or maybe the Police would get some OT it will cost money either way and the funds required to do so are coming in daily from all the beaches in Town. Perhaps Selectmen and Fin Comm members will have respect enough for the Town they represent to not turn a blind eye to this type of behavior from Administration going forward and be able to work together to resolve this issue.

We live here year round and can't believe that our beaches are now something like A Carnival too many drunken disorderly out of control people

Definitely need more police patrolling the area and yes I do not mind an increase in tax for this. I also think other beaches might also need looking at.