The following letter was sent to the City of Rehoboth Beach with a copy provided to the Cape Gazette for publication.
The new bicycle parking racks for the beach at Oak Avenue are great.
Some people continue to park bikes on the erosion fence. The repaired fence is already showing signs of damage.
When I saw some adults parking there, I said, “Oh, there are lots of empty racks, they’re right behind you.” They said, “Well, the bikes get hot.”
I pointed out that their locks were breaking the fence – which looks recently repaired – and they said, “The fence is already broken anyway,” and put their locks and bikes right on the path.
Could a ticket be issued? Or a note from the City of Rehoboth?
I’m sure you don’t want citizens patrolling each other – and it doesn’t work anyway. But you’ve put good money to use making these entrances clean and accessible and attractive. You paid for upgrading the bike racks. And now people who are going to a beach to enjoy the sun are putting their bicycles and locks on an erosion fence because they don’t want their bikes to get hot. It’s selfish and not community-minded. And sadly, nobody will care unless they are formally rebuked.