There’s a new boat rack at the entrance to Sandy Bay Beach and with it, comes warnings to boat owners to store their vessels within the racks, and label them with the owner’s name and phone number. If not, those boats will be removed at the owner’s expense.
This is one component of enforcement related to the “Use of Public Beaches and Water Areas Bylaw” passed in July. The bylaw bans the parking of a Small Vessel (motorized boat not more than 12 ft in length) on the beach for more than 4 hours at a time or a human-powered vessel (such as a rowboat or canoe) anywhere other than the boat rack area.
Parks General Operations Manager Bruce Lyne says that currently, there are six such boats that have been removed by from the beach to a municipal works yard.
“They’ve been sitting there for roughly a year, and no one has claimed them,” says Lyne. “None of the boats are seaworthy, I’ve just made an order for them to be hauled off to the dump.”
He adds that while there are currently a number of boats strewn on the beach, there will be a leniency period of several weeks they are removed.
Senior Bylaw Services Officer, Bonny Brokenshire, says that this, as well as other measures such as moving the outhouse back from the high-tide mark and the placement of new garbage and recycling bins is all being done with the intent of the revitalizing Mannion Bay.
“You can’t separate the beach environment from the aquatic environment,” says Brokenshire. “The goal here is to improve the socio-ecological integrity of the whole Bay.”
She says there is a municipal lease on Sandy Bay beach from the Province, making it is the responsibility of the municipality to keep the area safe and sanitary.
