WILDWOOD – The Board of Commissioners passed an ordinance altering its juvenile curfew and introduced another to amend the beach closing time.
Ordinance 1267-23 was passed after a public hearing, July 26, during which there was no public comment, to push up the start of the juvenile curfew from 1 a.m. to midnight during the summer season.
The ordinance was introduced at the July 12 commission meeting, citing problems with juveniles “rioting” over the Fourth of July weekend. Commissioner Steve Mikulski, who oversees public safety, said the earlier curfew would help the police department redirect its personnel away from the boardwalk and toward the business district where they might be needed.
“The curfew will bring people in off the streets and send them home and we can have more police in the business district,” Mikulski said. “The chief feels the same way.”
The news of the Wildwood ordinance captured the attention of Philadelphia’s national news outlets prior to the meeting.
The commissioners also introduced Ordinance 1269-23, which will amend the beach closing time from 10:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. nightly. The change was designed to better address quality of life issues in Wildwood.
In a related matter, the city shared the Wildwood Police Department’s Officers Report for Jan. 1 through July 25. During that nearly seven-month time frame, the police department issued 1,616 summonses for ordinance violations.
Wildwood officers wrote 272 summonses for bicycle violations, 101 smoking violations, and 85 animal violations, many of these related to the boardwalk. There were also 59 alcohol violations and nearly 1,100 “miscellaneous” violations written.
Contact the author, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.
