North Wildwood Acts to Allow Bathing Suits on Boardwalk?

NORTH WILDWOOD — Believe it or not, visitors to this seaside resort should soon be allowed to stroll from 16th to 26th avenues on the city’s Boardwalk during evening hours and wearing nothing but short pants, swim trunks or bikinis.
Imagine that. Speedos® on the boards. Gasp.
It’s true. City Council Feb. 2 introduced Ordinance 1579, which would repeal Section 150-1 of the city’s general legislation regarding permissible apparel on the Boardwalk.
The regulation currently states:
“It shall be unlawful to appear upon the Boardwalk in the City of North Wildwood from 6 p.m. on any day to 4 a.m. of the next succeeding day garbed in the apparel known as ‘bathing suits,’ ‘shorts,’ ‘short-shorts’ or any garments similarly designated or especially designed as play clothes or sun-suits, worn either by male or female users.”
City Solicitor William Kauffman said this ordinance, circa 1959, was an antiquated law that somebody found still on the books and the city decided to repeal.
Those were more modest times and city officials likely didn’t want too much skin showing on the Boardwalk after the sun went down or else they might have wanted more formal eveningwear to go along with the amusements, restaurants and shops.
Mayor William Henfey, who said he’s been in city government for 17 years, remembered that there used to be laws about keeping livestock in North Wildwood when he was first elected to the governing body.
“We get rid of the antiquated ordinances when we find them,” he said.
According to the Web site dumblaws.com, this Cape May County community is not the only municipality in this state with out-of-date or other unique laws. The following are examples:
• In nearby Sea Isle City, there was no boiling of bones allowed on the property.
• In the Borough of Caldwell, it was illegal to dance or wear shorts on the main avenue.
• In Elizabeth, it was forbidden for a woman, on a Sunday, to walk down Broad Street without wearing a petticoat.
• In Newark, it was illegal to sell ice cream after 6 p.m., unless the customer had a note from his doctor.
• In Trenton, you were not allowed to throw a bad pickle in the street or consume pickles on Sunday.
This last regulation actually inspired a 1976 book on the subject by Dick Hyman entitled “The Trenton Pickle Ordinance, and Other Bonehead Legislation.” Also, the Sea Isle City bone-boiling measure likely had to do with the community’s agricultural past, city Solicitor Paul Baldini explained. He said the ordinance was most likely repealed when the city codified its laws in the mid-1990s.
In addition to the many antiquated municipal measures still on the books in New Jersey, Bergen County has one of the country’s last remaining “blue” laws, which forbids the sale of most consumer products on Sunday.
Dumblaws.com also points out some questionable New Jersey state statutes:
• It is against the law for a man to knit during fishing season.
• It is against the law to “frown” at a police officer.
• Automobiles are not to pass horse drawn carriages on the street.
• It is illegal to delay or detain a homing pigeon.
• You cannot pump your own gas.
In contrast to North Wildwood, which acted to repeal its Boardwalk attire ordinance only after somebody happened across it, the State of New Jersey has a panel whose mandate it is to simplify, clarify and modernize state statutes.
According to its Web site, the New Jersey Law Revision Commission was created in 1985 to clean up the state’s books through an ongoing review process and by considering recommendations from various organizations, members of the legal community and the public.
Revision of state laws is likely hard work, so if the Commissioners get a break this summer, perhaps they would enjoy a visit to the shore and a long stroll on North Wildwood’s Boardwalk. If City Council here acts quickly on the proposed ordinance, the Commissioners should even be allowed to wear their bathing suits by then.