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Beach Space
updated: Aug 22, 2012, 4:17 PM

By Edhat Subscriber

For the past several Sunday afternoons, I have noticed someone reserving space for weddings on Butterfly Beach, and am wondering if this is legal. They stake out a prime spot to the right of the steps, rake the sand, and set up chairs and an arch by mid-day, thus forcing beachgoers to squeeze onto what is left of either side of this popular and crowded beach. By the time I left the beach at 5:30pm last Sunday, the wedding still hadn't begun, yet that valuable real estate had been taken up by chairs all day. It just doesn't seem right that someone can profit off of using a very popular public beach while preventing the public from fully utilizing it. Why not choose a less crowded beach? Anyone know anything about this?

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 311440	2012-08-22 04:27 PM
County permits are rarely pulled for weddings at Butterfly. People like it there because it is nice...the same reason why people like to go there. A wedding at East Beach or Ledbetter? Ha, come on.
COMMENT 311441	2012-08-22 04:27 PM
I think you need to get there earlier on Sunday and stake it out for yourself. Or go to a different beach? If someone wants to get married on a beach and they get there before anyone else to set up some chairs, early bird gets the worm, live and let live?
COMMENT 311464	2012-08-22 05:00 PM
No, you cannot reserve a spot on Buttefly Beach. If it's the same person doing it, it's likely a wedding coordinator making money off our public beach while denying residents access to our community resources. You should walk right through their freshly raked sand. And if you see a wedding in progress, walk through it wearing a speedo (even better if you wear headphones and sing loudly the whole time). It won't take long before they realize that they don't own the beach.
COMMENT 311477	2012-08-22 05:16 PM
OP here. It is the same person setting up the same chairs and arch every weekend.
COMMENT 311483	2012-08-22 05:30 PM
Hi OP, Please don't ruin someone's wedding, but please DO talk to the organizer. S/he obviously is doing this regularly, and you should talk to them. But could you imagine someone walking right through your wedding to make a point when it's the organizer's fault, not the couple's? Ugh, people like 464...
COMMENT 311496P	2012-08-22 05:47 PM
If you've never witnessed the wedding, how do you know in fact, it is a wedding? Maybe some local church has a service there every Sunday evening. If it was for the former, I say it's okay, a wedding is a happy occasion that most people will not whine about, but for a church service...uh, no, get a permit. JMO.
COMMENT 311498	2012-08-22 05:50 PM
I just love the comments calling for someone to ruin the wedding of strangers for fun. What the heck is wrong with some of the people who live in this town? If you feel there's a problem, contact the county permit office and also parks and recreation and see what's up. If it's a legit wedding (or even a non-legit one) what gives people the right to encourage it's interruption? Disgusting.
COMMENT 311517	2012-08-22 06:17 PM
I sometimes see shindigs on the sand across from the Fess Parker Doubletree or west of the bath house. Sometimes they'll bring in generators to power lighting or amps. Some friends had their wedding reception at the Yacht Club, so my buddies and I got recruited to rake seaweed/sand on the beach for photos. A tough and smelly job :)
COMMENT 311533	2012-08-22 06:41 PM
You might want to check your assumption that Butterfly is a public beach. I believe it is actually privately owned, especially the section in front of the Biltmore and Coral Casino. Private ownership extends to the high water mark. Between the water and the high water mark is public access on any private beach. Even on Public Beaches public ownership does not mean anyone can decide who can or can't use the beach to their heart's content. Please check your prejudices at the door along with your six shooters, though the latter aren't nearly as dangerous in this case.
COMMENT 311550	2012-08-22 07:45 PM
What about the person who has been setting up a kayak and board surfing rental table with equipment dead center on the Butterfly Beach? The whole point of PUBLIC beaches is for general public recreation. Not for retail stalls. Unless we pass laws to change the rules--and that is an option--the beach is not for people to make money on retail ventures. If one person does it, then other people will start selling bottled water, renting out lounge chairs, leasing towels, hawking lotion, pressing lattes, setting up massage chairs, braiding white peoples' hair into cornrows (we all know how tragically that turns out), you name it. The only thing I am comfortable with is yoga or fitness classes that on an occasional basis come down to hold their class at the beach, when it is normally somewhere else. At the beach, in Santa Barbara, less is more. If you want a Venice, Ca. or Acapulco atmosphere...go there.
COMMENT 311551	2012-08-22 07:48 PM
The anti wedding police are out in full force. Check them for a hall pass too.
COMMENT 311559	2012-08-22 08:04 PM
BUTTERFLY BEACH IS A COUNTY BEACH..... You can legally have a wedding there and set up chairs. Spots are first come first serve. The only requirement is that the event is not roped off. I would suggest to the original poster to use Google next time for basic licensing and permitting questions.
COMMENT 311582P	2012-08-22 09:59 PM
311440: there are frequent weddings at/on East Beach, catered by the DoubleTree directly across the street. 311533: Indeed, Butterfly is a public beach and the public owns to the highwater mark. High tides routinely lap at the wall there. If chairs are set up there and unoccupied... sit in them.
MESARATS	2012-08-22 10:48 PM
What is the difference between setting up a surf camp, seting out beach blankets and putting up a portable arbor and some chairs? Surf camp. They don't teach them surf etiquette so you have to gently remind them and/or surf arround them. A group a people on the beach, you may have see a women in a 2 piece that is bigger then a size 2 and have to walk arround them, a wedding ceremony lasts at most 15 minutes and while that may be a eternity for the participants, God forbid you may have to walk above them in sand that is too soft and maybe hot on tender feet, or below them on sand that is too hard and have to take in the view of people being joyous, plus the thought that maybe someone, like a local rental company is making a buck. You are so on the mark, this town is going to H, E double hockey sticks. Makes me want to move to the O.C.
COMMENT 311638P	2012-08-23 08:50 AM
While a wedding may only be 15-30 minutes long, the OP stated that the chairs were set out hours earlier, essentially taking up a large portion of beach real estate for a good chunk of the day. I believe this is what the OP objects to and I have to agree that 'holding' a spot on the beach for hours with no one there every Sunday is unacceptable. Anyone that chooses to get married in a public spot must realize that, yes, the public will be around and may not be aware/care that a wedding is taking place. My suggestion to the OP for the next Sunday they plan on going to the beach is to arrive very early, set up some blankets/towels that you don't care about and then return later when you want to enjoy the beach and see if anyone respected your 'reserved' spot. If not, ask the wedding coordinator why he/she didn't respect your stuff when you have respected their stuff for several weekends.
COMMENT 311704P	2012-08-23 10:38 AM
Where do the wedding guests find and use a restroom?
TROLLEY TOM	2012-08-23 12:50 PM
Find a restroom, 704? How do you handle the situation when you're at Butterfly? My solution is to use the restroom at the Biltmore, complete with cloth towels.
COMMENT 311789P	2012-08-23 01:04 PM
Thanks, I didn't know that the Biltmore willingly provides restroom services to Butterfly beach goers and now Beach wedding parties. Very classy of them. (Hope the know it.)

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