During the afternoon of 4/27 I telephoned the office of a Florida city’s Parks and Leisure Department and asked the person who answered the telephone if metal detecting was allowed on city property. She replied that she didn’t know, but that I was the first person she knew of that had presented this question. She said that she would check and get back to me. On the morning of 4/30 she called me and stated that “I could metal detect, but would not be allowed to dig up any items I may have detected.” I replied that was comparable to going to a restaurant and not being allowed to order. She replied that if Mding was allowed that there would be digging all over city property and that wouldn’t be permitted. I then politely asked if there were any city ordnances or laws in effect that would stop me from Mding; whereupon she replied that the police would arrest me for “destruction of property”. I then reiterated the canned statement that I would refill all holes I may dig and that I would remove and dispose of all trash that I uncovered during my Mding. I also advised that a small garden trowel (Lesche) would all I would be using to dig with. The final answer from her was “NO!” I’m certain that she was just the mouthpiece for some twit that didn’t have the nerve to personally address me him or herself. This particular city has over 20 parks, several with lake beaches, and no one can tell me that no one else hasn’t MD’d on any or all of them before. I fully intend to stop by the city’s main Police Station tomorrow and get the word directly from the horse’s mouth. You would think that I was attempting to strip mine their parks by the way this office treated me,
I have previously secured a County MD Permit as well as contacting another city, as large as this one, and was told to “have at it, but to keep off the athletic fields.”
To me this is just another example of uneducated people imposing their personal will on others…today’s name of the game.
I have previously secured a County MD Permit as well as contacting another city, as large as this one, and was told to “have at it, but to keep off the athletic fields.”
To me this is just another example of uneducated people imposing their personal will on others…today’s name of the game.
