North Hatley public beach, town caught between a fence and a hard place
Since assuming control of the management of the public beach in North Hatley, the town has come under fire for locking the front gate, preventing access outside of supervised operating hours.
The town recently obtained a legal opinion from the Monty Sylvestre, conseillers juridiques inc. firm regarding liability exposure relative to the management of the beach, to explore whether leaving the gate open after hours were a plausible option.
The opinion, made available to the
public on Thursday morning, suggested that the town would indeed be liable if it were to tolerate or allow access to the beach outside of operating hours.
The issue stems from the fact that there is currently a fence surrounding the public beach.
An excerpt from the opinion reads: “Although the Municipality is not obligated to fence off a beach area, we are of the opinion that once the fence is installed, it must be used for the purpose for which it was intended and that the public expects, that is to prevent the public from accessing the beach area outside operating hours.”
For over 50 years, the public beach was managed by a non-profit organization, the North Hatley Recreational Society (NHRS).
With a combination of fundraisers, donations and annual contributions from the municipality, the NHRS managed all beach activities including tennis, swimming and sailing lessons, and also lifeguard supervision during operating hours.
While the fence around the beach was installed under the tenure of the NHRS, the beach remained accessible outside of operating hours for those in the community who enjoy early morning dips and moonlight swims.
It wasn’t until last year when the town, under the pressure of more rigid safety requirements, passed a resolution requiring the NHRS to lock the front gate of the beach after operating hours.
According to North Hatley Mayor Michael Page, there were complaints last year when the rule was applied, but some residents took advantage of a hole between the fence and a hedge to continue using the beach after hours.
The situation has changed this year. During a construction project at the beach, the hole was repaired. Now, short of jumping the fence, there is no access point when the gate is closed and locked.
The beach access issue was compounded by the NHRS’ decision to step away from the management of the beach this summer for the first time in over 50 years, saying that it would not be able to operate under new conditions imposed by the Municipality.
Among the conditions, alleged to have been presented as non-negotiable, were free access for North Hatley residents, higher user fees for non-residents and increased supervised hours, which the NHRS believed, based on the accounting of previous years, would lead to a deficit.
The locking of the gate was also a bone of contention.
“Preventing access to one of the few public beaches is, according to the NHRS, a decline in the quality of life of residents of the region,” the NHRS stated in an explanation of its decision to suspend activities at the public beach this summer.
“I can understand their frustration,” Mayor Page said. “It’s not that we want it locked. We want people to have access,” he said, explaining that the hours this year have been extended until 9 p.m.
The problem, according to Page, is that the newly acquired legal opinion doesn’t give much of a margin for interpretation.
“We’ve been telling them that for the last year,” Page said, but community members opposed to the beach being closed doubted the validity of the town’s legal claims.
Now that the town has a legal opinion in writing and a demonstrated desire from residents to use the beach outside of operating hours, leaving the gate unlocked or removing the fence is easier said than done.
Another excerpt from the legal opinion illustrates the town’s dilemma: “The Municipality is not obligated to fence off a beach area. The Municipality can as such remove the gate. Removing the fence is not susceptible, in of itself, of establishing the grounds for liability on the part of the Municipality. However, removing the fence for the purpose of allowing the public to have access to the beach outside operating hours can be the grounds for liability on the part of the Municipality. In fact and as previously mentioned, the Municipality cannot tolerate or allow that the public have access to the beach outside operating hours at the risk of liability.”
“I’m tired of hearing 50 years ago...” Page said. “Fifty years ago hockey players didn’t wear helmets, cars didn’t have seatbelts. Things change, and sometimes, for the better,” Page said, explaining that the safety of the population is the town’s primary concern.
Page said that council will hear what the community has to say about the legal opinion at the upcoming council meeting on Monday, July 9.
“We’ll see if the tone has changed, see how they feel about it,” he said.
“If they can present an alternative, we’re not opposed to it,” Page said.