Carmel wrestles with how to clean up beach and rein in bonfires, considers a moratorium.

The unusually mild, dry winter has locals doing rain dances (maybe they worked), and also partaking in what’s usually reserved as a summertime activity: gathering for bonfires on Carmel Beach.

The city of Carmel contracts with a charcoal cleanup crew in the summer months, but it’s been an unusually busy season for fires, and one that’s lacking in the winter storms that traditionally wash away any remnants. That’s helped push bonfires to the top of the city Forest and Beach Commission’s agenda, which will consider how to best address their proliferation at a March 6 meeting.

Commissioners David Refuerzo and Kathy Bang serve on an ad hoc beach committee. They’re aiming for regulatory and enforcement tools, and while an all-out ban isn’t currently on the table, a short-term moratorium is.

“There are a lot of mitigation measures we think we can put in place as opposed to just an outright ban,” Refuerzo says. Those might include better signage with the rules – like no fires bigger than 3 feet tall and wide, and no fires north of Tenth Street. Another possibility is wood-free fires, Bang says, and installing propane-burning fire rings, which cost about $200.

Some residents are asking for a temporary moratorium while city officials work out a long-term plan, one of Carmel City Council’s 2014 key objectives.

“No one is asking for a ban,” Bang says. “The advantage of a moratorium is it would give people a sense of urgency. Without a moratorium, there’s no pressure on us to actually get something done to manage the beach better.”

The California Coastal Commission may not allow even a temporary moratorium, based on its denial last July of Newport Beach’s plan to remove fire rings, based on air quality concerns. “Lower-cost visitor and recreational facilities shall be protected,” the Coastal Commission reported.

As of March 1, Newport Beach’s 60 fire rings became limited to charcoal only. (City staff tested charcoal – and published a list of seven approved brands on the city’s website.)

Air quality hasn’t been an issue in Carmel, but neighbors at a Feb. 3 commission meeting raised concerns about smoke, charcoal and trash.

Longtime Carmel resident Maggie Eaton says the number and size of fires have gotten out of hand. “I don’t think people have an idea of how many people go down there and build fires,” she says. “Some are huge. With the density on weekends and holidays, it’s just becoming overrun. Charcoal is everywhere. Nobody likes that sort of thing.”