Crabs Cause Concern on Wildwood Boardwalk

WILDWOOD — Who would have thought something as small as hermit crabs could cause such big trouble?
Wildwood banned the sale of the little critters, along with iguanas and snakes, citing an ordinance that bars pet shops on the boardwalk.
Hermit crabs are indeed pets, subject to a city zoning ordinance that prohibits the sale of pets on the boardwalk, Judge John F. Callinan ruled in a four-page decision issued in August 2001.
Families strolling the boards looking for the popular souvenir would have to go to neigh-boring North Wildwood in order to purchase hermit crabs.
But some merchants on the boardwalk are tired of loosing business to neighboring towns.
Jerry Kretchman, who operates the Grandview Gift Shop, told commissioners July 25 that he “runs a family friendly store” and had been selling hermit crabs for 10 years before the ban.
“Customers come in every day asking why we don’t have hermit crabs,” he said. “I always tell them ‘it is a long story’ and if they have time they normally end up listening to it.”
“Most of them end up telling me that they think its crazy,” he added.
City Solicitor Marc Karavan explained that in order to allow hermit crabs to be sold on the boardwalk, stores interested in the crustaceans would have to have a license as a pet shop and the city would have to amend the 2001 ordinance to allow pet stores.
Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr., who was apart of the commission during the initial hermit crab battle, said that he was wary about going through the process to change the law.
“We tried to negotiate back then and it was thrown in our face,” he said of the all or nothing attitude adopted by some of the merchants who had pursued the matter to court.
“We might be a whole lot more receptive to this if the city was reimbursed for the thousands of dollars we spent trying to defend ourselves,” he added.
Michele Rutkowski, another boardwalk merchant, told commissioners that if they want the boardwalk cleaned up, she doesn’t believe they should start with hermit crab.
According to Rutkowski, offensive T-shirts are still hanging at the entrance of quite a few boardwalk stores, despite the city’s urging to move questionable items from the front of the store to an “adults only” section.
“The shirts are still there, the vulgarity is still there,” she said. “They didn’t listen at the beginning of the year and they aren’t listening now.”
“Now that is the end of July, all the foul four-letter words are out,” said Gary Rutkowski, also a boardwalk merchant.
“If we’re going to move the boardwalk forward, some individuals have to change,” he said.
“And if you let them win on hermit crabs, it is only a matter of time before lizards are be-ing sold or birds or anything else,” she added.
But Kretchman responded that it wouldn’t be a slippery slope if the city simply and specifi-cally stated that only hermit crabs could be sold on the boardwalk.
The mayor said that the commissioners have to sit down and discuss the matter further, but he said no matter what, a change would not be possible in time for this summer season.
In the meantime, he said, the names of the stores with offensive merchandise could be handed over to the boardwalk inspector or the city.
“I strongly suggest that if someone sees something, to let us know,” said Troiano.
Contact Suit at: (609) 886-8600 ext. 25 or lsuit@cmcherald.com