PANAMA CITY — Bay County commissioners on Tuesday approved code changes to tone down Spring Break that mirror those passed by Panama City Beach but not before venting their frustration that the city didn’t go far enough.
Commissioners approved closing down all bars in the unincorporated area at 2 a.m. in the month of March, just as the Panama City Beach ordinance calls for within city limits. But commissioners Tuesday also questioned why the early closing times are only in March when Spring Break lasts several weeks longer than that.
“Why is it just March?” Commissioner Bill Dozier asked. “I don’t understand that instead of just the full Spring Break.”
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Commissioner Mike Thomas, whose district covers the beach, replied: “I don’t understand it either, but that’s what they voted on.”
He said he was surprised when the Beach City Council only scaled back the hours in March.
“But I’ve been surprised several times lately over this,” Thomas said. “When they ask for a recommendation from the sheriff and they got it, they didn’t exactly follow it, and that surprised me.”
Panama City Beach Police Chief Drew Whitman said in a telephone interview after the meeting that he does think some of the new laws will work.
“I believe this will help us in trying to control the crowd a little more,” he said.
He said the “city is heading in the right direction” by adopting the new laws and regulations, and after this Spring Break, officials can review how it went and decide whether to back off of some regulations or adopt new ones.
“I guarantee some things will work,” he said. “Hopefully we can improve each year. Doing something is better than nothing.”
The department this year will have four drug-sniffing K-9 dogs patroling the beach, as opposed to one the last Spring Break.
Alcohol on beach: In his list of recommendations, Sheriff Frank McKeithen recommended that drinking on the beach be banned during Spring Break, but the Beach Council balked, saying it could end up killing Spring Break, which has an economic benefit.
Tunnell questioned whether the county might expand on the Spring Break measures adopted by the city to send a message.
“Do you think we ought to set the tone for this?” Tunnell said.
Thomas responded he didn’t think it would make any difference.
“We asked (city officials) unanimously to follow the sheriff’s recommendation,” Thomas said. “But the truth is that the clubs that form whatever image we get in Spring Break are all located in the city of Panama City Beach, and no matter what we do as a body to change those laws, it doesn’t change the image.”
He added that “the city is truly the face of Bay County, and they are going to portray whatever image we look like during that period of time.”
In the end, the commission approved changes to ordinances and codes to mirror those Spring Break laws approved by the Beach Council, which had passed 17 measures to tone down this coming Spring Break. One code change approved by county commissioners Tuesday would require people consuming alcohol on the beach to have a photo identification.
The commission also approved an amendment to its water safety code that would prohibit digging large holes on the sandy beach. Panama City Beach city officials have said illegal activities have taken place in the holes in years past.
Scooter ordinance: The commission also approved Tuesday of an amendment to its scooter ordinance so the requirement that people wear vests while riding a scooter only applies on county roads. Panama City Beach earlier changed its ordinance so it only applies on city roads. The change was to position the city to better defend a lawsuit brought by a scooter operator.
Dozier said the vests do improve safety for scooter riders.
“These vests … do help when you are out there and see them riding,” he said.
As they were leaving the meeting, commissioners continued to say Panama City Beach should have gone further in its regulations.
“I understand that (Spring Break) is a big part of the economy, but I think we’ve got to do something to bring all of this under control,” Tunnell said.
“I’m tired of not addressing it, not dealing with the issues,” he added. “It’s about time we did something.”
Thomas said when the city asks the sheriff for recommendations to tone down Spring Break, it should follow that advice. “It’s like asking your lawyer (for advice) and not following it. That part I didn’t understand,” he said.
He said he would have preferred stronger laws to tone down Spring Break initially.
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“I think it would have been better to have come out stronger and then back up a little bit as we go further than start out soft,” he said.
Commissioner George Gainer said county commissioners agreed with the recommendations of the sheriff, including banning drinking on the beach in March, and he wished the city would have gone along with them.
When told city officials balked at banning drinking on the beach out of concern it would kill Spring Break, he replied with a grin: “Boy, can you guarantee us that?”