The New Smyrna Beach City Commission voted on Wednesday to enact a 60-day curfew for minors.
The move comes after business owners and residents complained about visitors under 18 causing havoc. The head of the police pitched a scenario where children are left to their own devices in the city's core.
“Parents have come over and either (got) short-term rental houses, or hotel rooms, piled up a whole bunch of kids and walked away,” New Smyrna Beach Police Chief Mike Coffin said, according to WKMG.
Mayor Russ Owen said that children are creating chaos at area restaurants.“I can explain to them how children stealing a ladder from a restaurant using it to climb on the roof of a restaurant and throw their furniture off that roof, that’s not kids being kids,” Owen said.
The curfew comes with fines for repeated violations and the potential of community service. It starts at 11 p.m. every night.
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