Duelling petitions are seeking city council support, with one side urging a wakesurfing ban on a portion of Long Lake and the other side asking city council to ignore the ban request.
On Sept. 9, an open letter was posted online which expresses “strong opposition” to the proposed wakesurfing ban along Long Lake’s populous eastern bay.
“Wakesurfing is an activity that many families enjoy while respecting both the lake and fellow residents,” according to the letter, which more than 400 people had signed after approximately 24 hours of it being posted.
“The proposal to ban it outright in a certain area feels unfair and shortsighted, particularly when it appears to be driven by a small group of complaints rather than broad community consensus.”
Wakesurfing is a water sport which uses specially configured boats to create larger-than-usual wakes by taking on water to increase their weight.
Although similar to water skiing, wakesurfing doesn’t require participants to hold onto a rope, since the wakes are large enough for surfers to ride without being towed.
Where anti-wakesurfing advocates have blamed wakesurfing for damage to docks and shoreline erosion, the pro-wakesurfing letter notes that area landowners have already “extensively” altered the shoreline.
“To suggest that wake surfing in this area poses a unique threat to the natural environment seems inconsistent,” according to the letter. “It also raises the possibility that arguments about shoreline damage and ecology are being used more as a vehicle for complaints than as a true reflection of environmental priorities and concerns.”
Sudbury.com reached out to the person behind the open letter but, similar to the initial two anti-wakesurfing residents who initially flagged the issue, requested anonymity due to the potential for stirring “unnecessary conflict.”
The open letter comes in response to a petition with 110 signatures which Ward 9 Coun. Deb McIntosh tabled during Tuesday’s city council meeting, which calls for the city to take steps toward banning wakesurfing along Long Lake’s populous east bay.
Although she tabled the motion on Tuesday, doing so doesn’t necessarily signal support for the cause, which in this case McIntosh said it does not.
She is not pushing for a wakesurfing ban.
“We need to work together, we need to share the lake,” she said. “That’s for both groups, and even the people in the middle, is that we need to share the lake and work together and educate.”
Education has proven effective thus far, she said, noting that some wakesurfers have modified their behaviour and that she anticipates that by working together even more people will work to mitigate their impacts on other lake users and area residents.
Now that the petition has been tabled, city staff are required to consider its contents and respond to the lead petitioner in some capacity. Although this might include some form of action, city council members haven’t provided any direction regarding what staff should do. A ban could not take place without a council-endorsed application to Transport Canada.
Several members of the pro- and anti-wakesurfing camps attended Tuesday’s city council meeting, including 40-year lake resident Nancy Johnson.
She connected with Sudbury.com following the meeting to share her experience, noting that her shoreline has eroded to such an extent in recent years that she’s had to get 33 tonnes of rocks put down to prevent her house from being overtaken.
Although there are many causes of erosion, she said that the large waves created by wakesurfing boats make it pretty easy to conclude that they’ve played a role.
“The impact is like having an ocean surf in a river,” she said, describing the boats as akin to a monster truck driving down a highway.
While she said wakesurfing looks like a lot of fun, the waves they leave behind can make water conditions unsafe for other water users, damage floating docks and shorelines.
Long Lake, she said, is true to its name, with not enough space between shores for wakesurfing boats to operate.
While Johnson said that she has heard of some wakesurfers who modified their habits and moved west to the less-populated area of the lake, she said that some lake users have continued to cause problems.
Rather than a ban, the pro-wakesurfer open letter urges council to pursue “constructive solutions that balance safety, respect, and enjoyment for all.”
“These could include education and awareness campaigns for boaters, clearer guidelines on minimum distances from shorelines, and enforcement of the rules that already exist,” they wrote.
“We respectfully ask Council to consider the perspectives of responsible lake users and work with residents, boaters, and community stakeholders to ensure Long Lake remains a place where families and individuals can enjoy a wide variety of activities responsibly and together.”
Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.