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| Who is Boycott
North Beach? |
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Boycott North Beach was launched by two fishermen: Clyde Blake and Stephen Lycett in response to the closure of the public pier in North Beach to nighttime fishing. Members of online communities such as Pier
& Surf, Capitol Grilling, The Mowire, Tidal
Fish and The
Potomac River Anglers Club support the Boycott.
Resident taxpayers in Maryland as well as many residents in North Beach also support our campaign.
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Our attempts to obtain information
about the true ownership and public status of the pier
and beach was met with resistance by members of the
North Beach town council who conjured up a variety
of excuses for the closure. After 45 days members
of the town council are unable or unwilling to produce
the minutes from the June 5th town council meeting.
We believe that the closing of the
pier is a self-serving resolution that benefits a few
select residents and not the town as a whole. View
our petition
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What are the issues?
We believe that cities and towns do
not have the authority to restrict or severely hinder
access by the public to public property.
If we don't do something to fight this
case and others, more city and county governments will
continue to infringe on our collective rights to freely
use "public" property, in pursuit of the mighty
dollar and the tax dollars of exclusive communities
of property owners who believe they own the beaches
in addition to their waterfront homes.
After much research we were unable
to find records of tax payments by the Town of North
Beach for the Public beach and pier. We did however
locate several state grants and records of state funding
for the pier, beach replenishment, sewage problems and
other capital projects.
Since much of the state funding
is generated by our taxes, the public is footing a substantial
portion of the bill for the town of North Beach.
Calvert
County Direct Aid and Capital Projects FY 1999 &
2000
Calvert
County Direct Aid and Capital Projects FY 2000 &
2001
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Shunning the Public?
Parking on Bay Avenue, which
runs parallel to the boardwalk and provides the
only waterfront access to the public beach and
pier is restricted to 2 hours. During the Town
meeting on July 10, 2003, the Council swore in
several members of the Beach Patrol to assume
traffic enforcement duties.
In our opinion, the absence
of meters and the two hour restriction on parking
combined with the various fees charged by the
town for access to the public beach and pier effectively
removes any incentive for visitors to frequent
those areas. Residents of North Beach on the other
hand are issued parking stickers. BNB alleges
that these measures combined with the nighttime
pier closure effectively "privatizes"
public lands and transforms the waterfront area
in North Beach to an exclusive, essentially private
community.
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"The party that controls the General Assembly--the
party that controls the State House--makes the
decision about where state resources and state
support, where they go. . . . I have a vision
for the town of North Beach that can't be fulfilled
without state support."
Mayor Mark R. Frazer. Quoted in a Washington
Post Article dated 12.19.1999
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| Vested
Interests?
Our e-mail
inquiries submitted to the Town of North Beach
web site resulted in rather contentious exchanges
with several of the council members often containing
responses
that we found to be vague or contradictory.
Although Mayor Frazer never responded to our inquiries
directly, we concluded by process of elimination
that an e-mail address included along with the
other recipient addresses in the responses appeared
to be his.
Perplexed by the barrage we received
from practically every town council member, all
appearing adamant on closing the pier at night,
and stating different reasons for doing so, we
became suspicious of whether other personal motives
or financial incentives existed for the closure?
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We conducted some research
online, and found the above referenced e-mail
address listed as the contact address for
a Bed
& Breakfast located in the immediate
vicinity of the pier. Oddly enough, the
innkeeper of the Bed & Breakfast shares
the same residential phone number as Mayor
Mark Frazer according to online White
Pages directory. Furthermore, according to
the Maryland Department of Assessment and
Taxation, the
Bed & Breakfast property is zoned as residential
and owned by a third party. You must
cut & paste the url into a new browser
window in order to view the records or click
here to view our screenshot.
To further compound issues,
upon questioning several of the pier dwellers
and locals, many of them were under the
impression that the Bed & Breakfast
was in fact the Mayor's residence.
Assuming the information
we located is correct, and given the location
of the Bed & Breakfast to the public
pier, we believe that Mayor Frazer may potentially
have a vested interest in vacating the pier
during nighttime hours.
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A Health Hazard or Not?
While the town council would
have us believe the absurd claim that the pier
fisherman created conditions that pose a health
hazard, the town of North Beach has previously
had health issues related to the beach stemming
from overflow and raw sewage spilled into the
Bay by the sewage pump located near the beach.
North Beach has requested funding from the state
to address this issue.
The pier closure as a result
of a health hazard excuse would be perhaps more
believable if the sewage overflow issue was advanced
rather than the blaming
the fishermen for littering or trashing the restrooms.
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