York Town News
Surfers going forward with petition for an unrestricted beach
By Melissa Wood
YORK - The town's surfing community is moving forward with a grassroots petition for an unrestricted beach with no designated surf area.
York surfers are collecting signatures on a petition that would eliminate the 120-foot surf zone on Long Sands Beach and open up the beach to surfing. The petition requires surfers to maintain a 30-foot distance from other people in the water and to wear a 10-foot leash attaching them to their surfboards at all times during the summer months.
"A lot of beaches have almost the same exact setup," said longtime York surfer John Clancy, who named beaches in Ogunquit, Moody and Wells as well as Rye and Hampton, N.H., where swimmers and surfers alike are allowed to commingle in the water.
"At Kennebunk Beach you can surf anywhere you want, with or without a leash, the whole summer," said Clancy. "York Beach is an anomaly."
He pointed out that the petition also means that there could be no surfing on some hot, summer days when waves are small and the water is crowded with beachgoers because surfers would not have enough room to keep the required 30-foot distance from the other people in the water.
"We're not actually taking anything from anybody," said Clancy. "The ocean's for everyone."
The petition was first drafted following a Board of Selectmen meeting on March 26 when the board voted to approve changes to the surfing ordinance, but struck down a proposed change that would have allowed for opening the beach to surfing during inclement weather when other people are not in the water. Many in the audience, including residents who live nearby the surf zone area, expressed frustration that those changes were made without time for further discussion.
But there was no time to make any further changes to the surfing ordinance in order for the amendment to be on the ballot for the town election, and the changes recommended by the selectmen were subsequently approved in the May 19 election with 1,952 voting in favor and 513 against.
The amended ordinance keeps mostly intact the York surfing ordinance that has been in place since 1963, which prohibits surfing during the summer between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., except in the 120-yard surf zone on Long Sands. Under the amended zoning ordinance, however, the director of Parks and Recreation, or his designee, can expand the area another 120 yards to rocks at the Sun-n-Surf Restaurant on days "when wave conditions are well suited to surfing and the increased number of surfers warrants such expansion." It also changes the start date of the ordinance by two weeks from Memorial Day to Flag Day.
Ron Nowell, who drafted the petition, said a lot of the town's zoning changes are on the books because of petitions organized by citizens who felt that the Board of Selectmen or Planning Board were not responsive to a particular issue.
"It was quite common in the ‘70s and ‘80s to see petitions forcing ordinance changes," said Nowell.
If roughly 600 registered York voters sign the petition then the town would have to call for a special election to vote on whether to approve changing the ordinance to an unrestricted beach with no surfing area. According to Town Clerk Mary-Anne Szeniawski that number represents 10 percent of the 6,021 people who voted in the last gubernatorial election.
"They'll present it to selectmen and they won't have any choice but to go forward with it," said Nowell. He said a possible snag could happen because the petition contains the wording of the ordinance before the May 19 election, and the petition is required to have the wording of the ordinance.
York surfer Michael Mandravelis said he supports the petition, but added that they are not in any rush to move it forward. He encouraged people with questions to talk to surfers they see around town.
"It's a positive step in the right direction," he said. "We're trying to come up with a happy medium for everyone."
Mandravelis said the 3B Waverider foundation - founded in memory of longtime York Beach fixture Bill Davies - will be donating a check next week for $500 to the York Parks and Recreation Department for any new signs or flags needed for the recently passed amendment ordinance.
Clancy said that the weekend after last year's "Labor Day fiasco" - when large swells brought a large number of surfers and led to confrontations and armed patrolmen to the beach to enforce a tightly packed surfing zone - similar conditions with no surf zone enforcement led to no problems.
"If they open the beach they'll see it's a much better system," said surfer Michael Morin.
Morin builds surfboards and has also worked as a lifeguard.
"I got to know the ocean and the tides intimately," said Morin, who explained that when the waves get to about three feet or higher it creates a natural split separating the swimmers and surfers. He, along with Liquid Dreams owner Mark Anastas, offered to do a free surfing clinic for the town's lifeguards and stressed that safety for all users of the water should be the number one concern.
"This is an opportunity for people to understand conditions," he said.
