York Town News
Revised surf ordinances makes it to the ballot
By Melissa Wood
YORK - Still stinging from the fallout of last week's public hearing, the Board of Selectmen voted 4 to 0 to put the revised amendment to the surf ordinance on the May 19 ballot for voters to decide whether the current surf zone should be expanded another 120 yards during big wave days when an increased number of surfers are in the water.The amendment specifies that the recreation director, or his designee, make the call whether the conditions are sufficient for the 120-yard expansion toward the Sun-n-Surf property. Besides those days when the area is expanded, the ordinance still prohibits surfing during the summer between 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. except in the 120-yard surfing zone, and moves the start date of enforcement two weeks from Memorial Day to Flag Day, June 14.
Police Chief Doug Bracy said the revised ordinance will help his department manage the situation at the beach where contentions arose last Labor Day weekend when a large number of surfers were crowded into the zone.
"Any time that I come before you there's usually a reason for it," he said - adding that during the off-season he and others looked at ordinances for other beach communities to find the right language. "We don't think this is a giant step to ask for another 120 yards on the beach. Our hope is to manage it correctly and not have those issues."
The vote on Monday night, April 2, followed a much quieter public hearing than the one on March 26, where members of the Juniper Park Association, a nearby neighborhood group, voiced opinions against the ordinance, and surfers expressed disappointment that selectmen had pulled out a paragraph that would have opened the entire beach to surfing during days of "inclement weather" when the ocean was deserted by other beachgoers or deemed unsafe for swimmers. At that meeting frustration arose on both sides from people who had come to the meeting believing that there was still time for public input on the changes.
Following that meeting, former Selectman Ron Nowell began drafting a petition for a mixed-use beach that would allow surfers anywhere in the water, but would require them to wear 10-foot leashes attaching them to their boards and keep a distance of 30 feet from other people in the water.
Selectmen commented Monday night, addressing the public's reaction and media reports of the prior week's meeting.
Chairman David Marshall focused most of his comments on local media coverage of the issue and said when he read the news stories that followed the meeting he questioned whether they came from the same meeting.
He said that, contrary to reports in the local media, the board was listening to the issue but that the surf zone was just one of many of the hundreds of nuances in ordinances they deal with throughout the town.
The reports, Marshall said, "spawned some pretty nasty emails."
In explaining his position, Selectman Len Dorrian commented first on local newspapers in general, stating that everything in them is either "incorrect or specious."
Dorrian went on to state that his primary concern was one of safety and that in his view the revised ordinance, minus the inclement weather provision, addressed that issue. Dorrian further stated he would like some kind of report, if the ordinance passes at the polls, from Bracy and Recreation Director Mike Sullivan on how effective the revised ordinance is after the summer.
Selectmen Vice Chairman Dwight Bardwell and Mike Estes focused their comments only on the issue itself.
Estes said surfing has become a much more popular sport than it was 25 years ago and if there was no problem then there'd be no reason for the revised ordinance.
"What happened last summer was strictly a safety issue where there was too many surfers in one area," he said.
However, he said the previous draft of the ordinance "went too far" by allowing for the beach to be opened during bad weather days and the board did the right thing by taking it out. Estes said he kept a score card of everybody that spoke at last week's meeting and he counted nine for the ordinance and nine against it.
"I do think that we should give the surfers a chance to have the expanded area on those certain unique days," he said.
Bardwell said that he believed that opening the entire beach to surfing during inclement weather days meant the beach would be taken over by what he called a "special interest group" and closing the beach to others if the day became sunny. He said he supported the revised ordinance, but asked that Sullivan be very careful as he went forward.
"Although they're a special interest group in my mind, they certainly don't deserve to pile on top of each other," he said.
Surfer and lawyer David Ballou told the selectmen that he thought that media reports were "overblown" and that a number of surfers didn't agree with parts of the petition.
Ballou, who has devoted many hours to working with town officials on several drafts of the revised ordinance, said that he had been "disappointed and frankly upset that the board removed paragraph C (the "inclement weather" paragraph). However, I also respect your office and your decision of Feb. 26 and I urge others to do the same. … Contrary to media reports, paragraph B (expansion of the zone during big wave days) is the most important. … You got that."
Before the vote, Richard Anderson, president of the Juniper Park Association, encouraged selectmen not to put the revised ordinance on the referendum.
"Obviously, based on the hearing, this is a subject that people on both sides feel strongly about," he said.
He said that neither side is happy with it and added that the expanded area was a lot for families with elderly people visiting the beach.
"There seems to me a better way to solve the problem," he said.
Ken Roy said he did not support the revised ordinance because surfers already had the right to use the beach unrestricted from 5 p.m. to 9 a.m. and during the rest of the year when conditions were unsuitable for swimming.
Joe Casazza said he worried the ordinance did not specify exactly what conditions were that would allow expansion of the surf zone.
"It's hard to enforce something if there isn't some kind of standard you can manage by," he said.
Sullivan said he understands that if ordinance is passed by the voters he will be accountable to the selectmen, the voters and the property owners across the street.
"The ordinance is not going to be abused," he said.
Sullivan said he believed the part of the ordinance going forward will correct the problems with overcrowding in the surf zone that the town ran into last summer.
"We're talking about good days when there are big waves; it's as simple as this," he said. "We simply want the ability to expand the area slightly."
