The Bible tells us to "love thy neighbor," but where does neighborliness begin and where does it end, and is there a mileage limit?

If you enjoy the parks, playgrounds and pools of your local or neighboring municipality, you want to make sure that they remain clean, inviting and a respite from life's hectic moments. That goes for federal, state and county-supported facilities, as well.

Examples are the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Beltzville State Park and Mauch Chunk Lake Park.

Most of the time, people are respectful of these sanctuaries and obey the many signs that abound to use trash receptacles or admonish them not to litter, damage or defile or make a nuisance of themselves with loud music and yelling obscenities.

But during holiday and summer weekends, the crush of humanity at some of these facilities has caused officials to step in to close the gates to control the daily population. As you can imagine, this has not gone over well with some travelers who had driven 70 miles or more - some from nearby New Jersey or New York - to enjoy the great outdoors.

Local and state residents, who often feel entitled to first dibs on these recreational areas because their tax dollars support them, act with disdain when these crushes of humanity - many from out of state - infringe on their playground and make what should be a pleasant summer day something quite different.

"I have seen mothers bury their kids' dirty diapers in the sand (at Beltzville)," said Cindy, a mother of three from Lansford who asked that I not use her last name. "They completely ignore the signs and think that they own the place."

Complaints such as these and more have caught the attention of State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, who has proposed formation of a task force and an admission fee to state parks.

We think this is a great idea, but we hope that the conclusions reached by the task force are not left to languish on a shelf as so many other studies are.

Heffley introduced a bill in the state House to charge in-state residents a nominal fee at state parks to help defray parking and maintenance costs, but out-of-state residents would pay more.

The nearly 3,000-acre Beltzville park isn't the only location which has experienced people overload. Some of the major parks in southeastern Pennsylvania, such as Neshaminy State Park in Bucks County and Marsh Creek in Chester County, are also being inundated with visitors.

When visitors have to endure long trips, big crowds, extreme waits in line, tempers become short, and there have been occasional instances where law enforcement officials have been called to intervene.

A lifelong visitor to Beltzville, Heffley said in a Facebook post that he is "saddened to see the current state of Beltzville State Park, and I am committed to improving conditions so area residents can once again enjoy its beauty."

An online petition that has been signed by more than 7,500 persons urges officials to charge a park fee and to be more aggressive in handing out citations for violations of park rules.

Beltzville has been closed a number of times over the last 20 years for health issues. The most serious was in 1988 when nearly 1,000 became ill from a gastrointestinal infection. On top of that, it has been closed by state health officials because of high bacteria levels from dirty diapers, unsanitary health practices of bathers, even animal and bird droppings.

Communities are taking action to limit the use of municipal facilities. Some claim it is downright unneighborly. For instance, only Palmer Township residents and season pass-holders can use the pool in that bedroom community near Easton. The township recreation director said Palmer taxpayers foot the bill for the pool so they get priority.

Emmaus officials in Lehigh County took a different approach when they heard that city residents and out-of-staters were "trashing the (community) pool and using vulgar language." Residents were told the borough pool is public, so individuals cannot be excluded because of their residency.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com