ROUND 2 OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR PUBLIC BEACH ACCESS IS UNDERWAY
(OSOYOOS TIMES — July 18, 2007) —
The issue of public access to beaches around Osoyoos Lake has flared up again.
The question of whether resorts had the right to close off the beaches in front of their property to the public was raised in the municipal election of fall 2005.
Then last summer, at the urging of Council, Town staff approached a number of lakefront property owners, asking that fences, signs and other impediments to public beach access be taken down.
The Town also went around and put up 'Public Access' signs at about a dozen beach locations around Osoyoos, as part of its campaign to let people know they have the right to walk along the beach at most places around the lake.
The waters are muddied a bit by the fact that a few property owners do own the beach land in front of their developments “ but that is just a few, and even they don't own the beach below the high-water mark.
Now this summer the Town is launching Round 2 of its campaign to ensure proper public access, urged on by Councillor Stu Wells, who was one of the councillors behind the original call for more beach access.
This latest foray has an important new wrinkle, in that there are boat launches involved. Osoyoos has very few publicly accessible boat launches, so it's important that those that do exist are kept open and available for all boaters, and aren't fenced off for the exclusive use of owners or visitors to a development that just happens to be next-door.
We're all for property owners having a lot of leeway to do creative and enterprising things with their developments “ but they shouldn't encroach on the rights of the public to enjoy public facilities.
Beyond being the right thing to do, keeping as many facilities as possible open to all residents and tourists just makes sense if we are to present a friendly, welcoming face to our thousands of visitors.
