Those who want to go kiteboarding on municipal beaches in Ramara have a small window to do so, and some of the sport’s enthusiasts are crying foul.
In an effort to keep out-of-towners away during the provincial stay-at-home order, township council recently approved its waterfront parking strategy, which bans non-resident parking in certain areas.
However, the bylaw also prohibits kiteboarding on its beaches from May 20 to Sept. 9.
Council members said it’s an effort to keep residents safe from COVID-19, but that reasoning isn’t sitting well with some kiteboarders, who say the move doesn’t jibe with provincial measures, since the stay-at-home order is expected to be lifted May 20.
“I am so upset, personally, as a resident and I’m upset for the kiteboarding community,” said Andy Wojtis. “We’re not the problem here. We’re being singled out.”
Because he’s a resident, Wojtis can still kiteboard off of a private beach in Lagoon City, but the sport isn’t allowed from the only public beach in that community — a move he said is “unnecessary.”
Jon Popple, the township’s manager of community standards, worked with the kiteboarding community to draft a bylaw that would allow non-residents who want to kiteboard to access the water from Lagoon City’s public beach. It included measures to keep kiteboarders away from others on the beach, including those who were there to swim, use the playground or picnic.
Council members voted in favour of the bylaw at committee of the whole, but it was rejected at council.
“We were happy with the new bylaw,” Wojtis said, “and then, all of a sudden, they congregated again and didn’t ratify this.”
At committee of the whole, Popple told council members “it would be wise to implement the rules for Lagoon City so that those who choose to access it are still not getting mixed in and mingling with the swimmers and the park users.”
“I think it’s something, long term, that can work between kiteboarders and our park users and residents,” he said.
The bylaw would have permitted kiteboarders to set up in a large, grassy area near the road and distinguish a direct line for them to enter and exit the water. It would have limited where kiteboarders, not residents who would be using the park, could go.
“It’s clearly an offence if they go out of those zones,” Popple said.
When the matter came back before council, some discussed previous issues with kiteboarding at the Lagoon City beach.
“If it was up to me, I would prefer not to have the kite sailors here,” said Coun. Kal Johnson, who represents Ward 5, which includes Lagoon City. “I don’t think they add much. They cause a lot of issues and so forth. I know I probably differ with a few others here. I do find them a problem. I’ve dealt with them for six years.”
He later said he wasn’t opposed to having kiteboarders use the park if the issue of space could be dealt with to ensure they’re not near the playground or other park users. The park is about 80 feet long.
Council had previously indicated it didn’t want kiteboarding to be allowed at the foot of Simcoe Road or at a nearby area called The Steps, so Popple’s proposed bylaw included permanent restrictions in those areas. He had to find a location where it would be safe for kiteboarders, “and Lagoon City was that location,” he said.
“I must be a little naive here. What obligation do we have to these people to provide them with a location to teach people, running a business, on our beach?” Coun. Gary Hetherington asked, referring to kiteboarding schools that use the beach to teach the sport.
“If council is not supportive of the bylaw,” Popple responded, “then it should not be voted for, but I was asked to work on this and I’ve come back in good faith with a strong bylaw that I think is enforceable and that we can work with those groups.”
Rejecting the proposed bylaw and enacting a seasonal ban at the Lagoon City public beach and a permanent ban at the other two locations is “discriminatory,” said Mark Chandler, who lives in Toronto but has a cottage in Gravenhurst and uses the beach for kiteboarding.
“They’re trying to keep people away, keep tourists away,” he said.
“We feel that any of these towns that have public beaches should be open to everybody, whether they’re residents or non-residents.”
He took issue with this message from Mayor Basil Clarke during committee of the whole, regarding both parking and kiteboarding: “If you are a local, go ahead. If you are from out of town, get lost.”
Chandler wasn’t the only one to call the move discriminatory. Jennifer Grossman sees it as a civil rights issue.
In a letter to council, she said the bylaw “negatively impacts protected classes or restricts rights as outlined by the Charter of Freedom, Ontario Human Rights Code, the Navigations Act, and the Municipal Act.
“... The bylaw should not treat one group within a class differently from another group, such as non-residents, especially if the impact of such bylaws greatly impacts other protected classes that can be foreseen (access to the water for immigrants, visitors from other countries, people of colour, people with disabilities, for instance).”
“The bylaw is really overreaching and reactive,” she told OrilliaMatters.
Lagoon City is an ideal sport for those who are learning to kiteboard, she said, because of its shallow water and the sandy lake bed.
“It’s one of the only spots where beginners can excel,” she said, adding it is a growing sport that is becoming particularly popular with women.
Wojtis also suggested the ban might send the wrong message to non-residents.
In a letter to council, he wrote, “it feels like visitors of any kind are being singled out and downright segregated as second-class citizens.”
“There is a name for it in law-abiding countries. Allowing parking for only residents is a decision that could very well be challenged on the grounds of racism, and just doesn't feel right.”
It isn’t discrimination or racism, the mayor said.
“I don’t know where they’re getting that from,” he said. “I know lakes that put a horsepower limit on boats. Is that discrimination? It comes down to a safety issue with us. Our obligation is always to our citizens first and others are secondary.”
He insisted the measure was about keeping Ramara residents safe.
“Our beaches are so small. It didn’t seem feasible that we could accommodate both,” he said. “Are you playing with fire and it’s just a matter of time before someone gets hurt?”
It was a concern shared by Hetherington during the council meeting.
“There is going to be an accident. It’s just a matter of time before one of those kiteboards hits a swimmer,” he said.
In response to council’s concerns about COVID-19 being a threat by allowing non-residents to kiteboard, Grossman, who stressed she isn’t a COVID-19 denier, said the risk of getting the virus “from people using their beach is low.”
The ban might have also cost the township a new resident.
“I was a potential resident and then I got freaked out by this whole process,” she said. “I love the township. I love the people I’ve met in the township.”
Wojtis said he and others will “continue to fight” the ban, possibly through a legal challenge.
“If we don’t have any other avenues, then we may, but right now we don’t want to have to do that,” he said.
