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Vancouver park board staff want a pilot project that created a designated space for non-motorized boats to launch be made permanent.
On March 11, a staff report will be presented to Vancouver parks board commissioners asking that a four-beach pilot project that was started in 2021 be turned into a permanent fixture.
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“Beach users and non-motorized craft users alike have been using the designated launch areas with success. Staff recommend that the board approve the proposed bylaw amendment for enactment to make the launch and recovery permanently allowed,” wrote parks board general manager Steve Jackson.
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The pilot was created as part of Vancouver’s Non-motorized Watercraft Recreation Strategy.
The beaches selected were Kitsilano, the west and east ends of Spanish Banks and Sunset Beach. Each day between 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m. (from June 1 to Sept. 3) lifeguards placed black checkered flags marking the designated site from which people could launch their non-motorized craft. These include surfboards, windsurfboards, canoes, standup paddleboards and in the case of Spanish Banks kite surfboards.
Outside of those hours people are free to launch their non-motorized watercraft from wherever they want.
Under the permanent proposal, people will only be able to launch their non-motorized watercraft from the designed site within the designated hours.
The amended bylaw will state that “no person shall launch or recover a surfboard, windsurfer, canoe, standup paddle board, or any other type of non-powered watercraft on a beach except in areas that are designated for launch and recovery by the general manager.”
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