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WELLFLEET, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Alcohol consumption at a popular beach on Cape Cod will be banned this summer in an effort to curb rowdy behavior, officials said.
The Provincetown Independent reported Wednesday, March 29 that drinking and open containers of alcohol at Cahoon Hollow Beach in Wellfleet will be banned from May 20 through Sept. 10.
National Seashore Chief Ranger Michael Valora told the Independent that the ban will stay in effect during future summers until "the drunken behavior is under control."
The Independent reported that Wellfleet Police Chief Michael Hurley sent an email to the Wellfleet Select Board, telling them that traffic at Cahoon Hollow has grown 20 percent each year since 2017.
"This has resulted in an increase of excessive alcohol consumption, disorderly conduct, public intoxication, and improper disposal of human waste," Hurley wrote.
Cape Cod National Seashore beaches currently allow open consumption of alcohol. The regulation change would only ban consumption at Cahoon Hollow. Wellfleet’s bylaws forbid open consumption at all town-owned beaches.
According to the Independent, the ban is phase one of Hurley's three-part approach to curtailing the rowdy behavior. Phase two could involve changing the regulations on possession of alcohol in an open or closed container. Phase three, which Hurley considers a last resort, would be to consider closing Cahoon Hollow Beach entirely.
"This is not a move our departments take lightly and would be a result of phase one and two not working," Hurley wrote in his email to the select board.
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