York Town News
York surfers, officials work for surf zone solution
By Melissa Wood
Local resident John Clancy speaks before a sizable crowd of surfers and York officials at last week's meeting, hosted by York Parks and Recreation, to make improvements to the town's surf zone in time for the summer season.
Photo by Steve Rasche
YORK BEACH - More than 20 years ago, John Clancy helped make it legal for other surfers to use the entire beach beyond the summer months.
Until 1985, it was illegal to surf beyond the 120-yard surf zone all year long, even during months when swimmers had deserted the beach.
"We had to stay in that area in January," Clancy explained. Even though the rules weren't enforced in winter, he said, "they could have come down and put the signs up. It bothered me."
He took action, working with town officials to update the ordinance so that it would no longer be illegal to surf outside the zone between Labor Day and Memorial Day.
Now, Clancy said, change is needed again to the ordinance because the sport has grown more popular.
"In the early years we were a fringe element," said Clancy. "Everything's changed now. It's the fastest growing sport in the world."
Thursday night, Nov. 30, Clancy and about 35 other local surfers, both legends and beginners, attended an informational meeting hosted by York Parks and Recreation at the York Beach Fire Department to discuss the surf zone. The group agreed on proposed changes that would widen the zone and make enforcement less rigid.
The increased number of surfers on the beach has resulted in confrontations between surfers and lifeguards who are charged with enforcing the lines of the zone. On Labor Day, the number of surfers was so great that lifeguards called local police in to help enforce the zone.
Currently, surfing is prohibited between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. from Memorial Day through Labor Day, except in the 120-yard stretch on the north side of the beach, which is designated as the surf zone.
The ordinance does not allow any discretion on the part of lifeguards to either expand the surf zone or open the beach to surfing when rain or storm swells have driven swimmers away.
Clancy and others who attended the meeting spoke of the importance of reaching a solution that satisfied both surfers and others who enjoyed the beach in the summer.
"There's a fine line between how much we can get and how much we can give," he said.
Thursday night's informational meeting was chaired by Parks and Recreation Director Michael Sullivan, York Police Chief Doug Bracey local attorney David Ballou, an avid surfer who has taken a leading role in the issue.
"I grew up surfing here," said Ballou.
Ballou has spent every summer of his life at York Beach and began surfing when he was 8 or 9 years old. He said the situation called for somebody to step forward and try to improve it.
"We talked about different ideas, but none of us are geniuses," he said. "We know that people who use the surfing area, use the beach, need to be heard."
As drafted, the proposed changes to the ordinance would widen the designated surf zone from 120 yards to 240 yards, and allow the Parks and Recreation Department to expand the zone another 120 yards on days when the area becomes overcrowded with surfers. The recreation department could also open the entire beach to surfing on days when stormy weather made the ocean less attractive to other beachgoers.
The call to expand the surf zone would probably be made by the head lifeguard, and flags would notify beachgoers of the designated area.
Sullivan said making the surf ordinance less rigid would also help the lifeguards who are currently allowed only to enforce the existing zone, no matter what the surf or weather conditions are on a given day.
"On a big wave day, they're flipping coins to see who gets the surf area," said Sullivan.
The proposed ordinance also changes the geographical location of the zone to create a physical boundary so lifeguards would not have to enforce two imaginary lines. It is currently located about midway between the Sun-n-Surf Restaurant and Cutty Sark sides of the beach.
The new location would begin at the rocks by the Sun-n-Surf Restaurant to 240 yards north. If lifeguards think it's going to be a big wave day with lots of surfers, they can expand the zone another 120 yards, which would bring the zone up the current zone's southern boundary. This means that the new proposed surf zone would not include any of the current surf zone, except on days when the beach was entirely open to surfing due to inclement weather.
Surfer Michael Morin said the problems from Labor Day were caused by authorities enforcing a narrow surf zone that didn't allow the natural movements of the ocean.
"The frustration level comes up when you see good conditions," he said. "There's no one swimming there, but you can't surf there either."
He said the ocean's current naturally allowed surfers to go around swimmers, but then the surfers were pushed in.
"What the ocean had fixed, the authorities unfixed," said Morin. "That was the chaos and mayhem of that day."
Although the need to change the surf zone arose from confrontations last summer, the mood at Thursday night's meeting was mostly positive, with those attending realizing the need to build a consensus.
Even though some weren't happy about the proposed location, when asked how many approved the proposed changes, everyone in the audience except one person raised their hands in agreement.
Bracy said his main concern was safety, and he commended the positive approach of the meeting.
"I got beat up on dogs last year," he joked, referring to last year's multiple dog ordinance discussions before the Board of Selectmen. "This is much better."
Mark Anastas, owner of the local surf shop Liquid Dreams, called the meeting a "huge step" and very positive for the surfers who want to work with the town.
"It's not surfers versus the town," said Anastas. "We can control the few bad apples."
Anastas has seen the sport's rise in popularity firsthand. He said every year his shop sells more and more surfboards and that all of their surf schools sell out.
"York's an awesome beach where you can park your car and go surfing," he said.
Ballou said the surfing community has enjoyed what Clancy did for the last 20 years and asked the younger surfers in audience to stand up.
"If this all goes well, these guys are next," he said.
Clancy said the town seemed ready for the changes.
"Families love watching us. It's not some fringe thing and they're afraid for their daughters," he said.
He also pointed out that only three or four beaches in Maine have any regulations for surfing. Kennebunk, for example, allows surfing anywhere on the beach, as long as surfers wear a leash attaching their boards to their ankles. York Beach's proposed changes are similar to Old Orchard Beach, which uses a flag system.
"It's a time thing," said Clancy. "It's time to do something."
Sullivan said that draft amendments to the ordinance would be posted on the Parks and Recreation Department's website at http://parksandrec.yorkmaine.org.
The group hopes to have the changes on the May ballot so that, with voter approval, they will take effect next summer.
