Norfolk County will continue its lease with private landowners of the beachfront area in Port Dover after what the parties say was another successful summer season.
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Councilors directed staff to move ahead with the lease at a council-in-committee meeting on Wednesday. Final approval is needed at an upcoming council meeting.
Leases were signed in June 2023 to help address some of the issues raised by the landowners, including overcrowding, garbage, and visitors putting up tents and roping off areas for their exclusive use.
Norfolk also passed a bylaw governing the conduct of beachgoers and started an education/awareness/enforcement campaign.
In a report to advisors, Jim Millson, manager of bylaw services, said all the parties were pleased with the 2024 beach season results.
“In general, the feedback was positive and the 2024 season was deemed to be an improvement over previous summer seasons,” said Millson.
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Total enforcement hours on the beach were just over 700 from June 15 to Sept. 2. There were just over 1,200 interactions between security officers and the public, including 515 involving the prohibition of enclosed tents on the beach; 276 involving dogs on the beach; 191 involving smoking and vaping; and 141 involving the use of umbrellas. Norfolk County spent $78,000 on the 2024 Port Dover beach season. Among the highest costs were almost $20,000 for beach cleaning, $10,000 for disposal bin rental; and $20,000 for beach security and bylaw enforcement.
“I note there is no fine revenue listed,” said Mayor Amy Martin. “Is that the plan going forward forever? Is this just the status quo now? We’re just going to carve out $20,000 every single year to send a third party down for beach enforcement above the costs we already spend?
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Millson said the intent behind the bylaw was education and once people were aware of the rules there was almost 100 per cent compliance.
Norfolk CAO Al Meneses said it’s likely in future years the need to have full-time enforcement on the beach will diminish.
Frustrated landowners posted no trespassing signs at the beach in spring 2023 as a way to start a conversation with the county about how to best manage the beach before droves of visitors arrived. At the time, Peter Knechtel, owner of FW Knechtel Foods Ltd., one of the property owners, said the number of beachgoers to Port Dover was increasing and safety and liability were big concerns.
Norfolk owns a 66-foot strip of property running from the end of Walker Street to the water. Otherwise, the beach is owned by the Knechtel family and a cottage park operated by the Buck family that backs onto the water.
At Wednesday’s meeting Coun. Tom Masschaele raised concern about the lack of similar spending for the Long Point beach.
“Each year we approve this expense there are going to be people who wonder about the equity of this,” he said. “We provide no enforcement in Long Point whatsoever. Providing funding for one part of the county that’s not available to another part of the county for what appears to be very similar circumstances is always just a little bit hard to justify.”
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