By Chelsea Kellner
Chelsea.Kellner@StarNewsOnline.com

Published: Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 5:56 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, April 22, 2010 at 5:56 p.m.

Kure Beach vacationers, leave your thongs at home. At a Thursday meeting, the town council banned the revealing swimwear in response to an e-mail from a hopeful honeymooner.


"We're going to keep this as close to Mayberry with a beach as you can keep it," Mayor Dean Lambeth said.

An e-mail to Kure Beach Police Chief Dennis Cooper on Monday pointed out gray areas in the town's existing nude bathing ordinance, which banned nudity or "insufficient clothing." A man scouting honeymoon locations asked Cooper if thongs qualified as sufficient clothing, and if so, whether they were permitted for both men and women.

Town Clerk Kaysie Pralle flagged the issue after her online research revealed that the inquiry was connected to a photographer who took inappropriate photographs, Lambeth said.

At Thursday's meeting, the council voted to add a sentence to the ordinance specifically banning thongs and similar attire.

"We try to do everything we can toward being a family oriented beach," Mayor Pro Tem Chuck Keener said.

Inappropriate swimwear on Kure Beach was a problem about five years ago, Lambeth said, but not in recent years. The ordinance applies to all of Kure Beach, though not to the three miles of federally owned beaches on the south end of Pleasure Island, Lambeth said.

Chelsea Kellner: 343-2070

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