Topsail Beach Commissioners work towards banning nudity on beaches

TOPSAIL BEACH, NC (WWAY) — The Topsail Beach Board of Commissioners met Wednesday night to discuss paid parking, and a bigger ban on public nudity.

Mayor Steven George Smith recently asked the town attorney to look into the matter, after learning about an Ocean City, Maryland court ruling upholding the town’s 2017 ban on women publicly going topless.

Mayor Smith says any possible Topsail ban would be based on the Ocean City Law.

Chief of Police Sam Gervase says his only reservation about a potential ordinance was if it were potentially unlawful.

He says the Ocean City Law gives him more confidence in the town drafting an ordinance, that he says, is needed.

“We get probably two or three calls about nudity on the beach, and last year we had new situation that I’m sure everybody remembers. If you don’t: we had a couple who really pushed everybody to their limits as far as our lack of ordinance is concerned. My fear is that — because of that, we’re going to become a destination for it.”

Commissioners also talked about paid parking, which continued their public discussion from the month prior.