WELLS, Maine — Here's an update to a story NEWS CENTER Maine reported a couple of weeks ago.
Large tailgate-size tents were being banned from some of the most popular beaches in Maine.
It was an ordinance the town of Wells recently implemented following a summer of increasing complaints. Now, however, they're pumping the brakes.
"There is a breaking point for those people who reside in the beach area," said Wells town manager, Jonathan Carter. "And that was last year."
Wells town manager, Jonathan Carter, says a new ordinance was an effort to regulate scenes like the one pictured below. Tents. Large tents. Everywhere.
This photo from a York beach shows the extent of what's happening in Wells, which sees 30,000 more people in the summer. Many of those summer visitors and residents want to enjoy the town's three beaches. At high tide though, Carter said it becomes "a very crowded situation."
So there's competition.
"People were coming in and setting these tents up or pop-ups, easy ups, early in the morning and leaving them in some cases all week long that they were staying on the beach."
Wells looked to other coastal communities with tent regulations in states like South Carolina and Florida. After their research, they voted to tighten their own tent rules late last month by banning the use of large shading devices and overnight camping.
"We may have jumped the gun a little bit," Carter said.
Carter said the new rules were met with confusion and a dialogue of misinformation on social media. Several people said all shading devices were banned.
"Because of this we are addressing what we should be doing more with social media and how we can improve our presence on social media," he added.
Now the rules are on hold and town leaders will discuss changes at a workshop on February 18th.
In nearby York, town leaders are also going to open up a discussion about those large tents and how they are used with the public this summer.