The Community Recreation Coordinator Parks and Recreation for the City of Chestermere presented the COVID-19 Response Lake and Lakefront Parks strategies for 2021 during the Dec. 15 Realgar Meeting of Council.
As part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, the city responded to overcrowding concerns at the beach and local parks throughout the summer.
“The city had to manage occupancy rates at Anniversary Park and Cove Park due to health risks caused by overcrowding,” Katelyn Richards said.
In response to a protocol mandated by the province, the City of Chestermere created the Temporary Beach Use Bylaw, to better manage occupancy rates, and charge patrons to recover some of the costs from management.
“Our strategy for 2021 is administration plans to monitor the beach use, and if the need to manage occupancy rates arises, the parks division will initiate the same resources,” Richards said.
“The Temporary Beach Use Bylaw will expire in January 2021, and the upcoming Lake Use Bylaw will include clauses that give us the ability to close lakefront parks due to health and safety concerns without the need for a temporary bylaw,” she said.
In June, the boat launch opened with a limited occupancy of 25 boats to ensure the safety of lake users and staff.
Richards is hopeful to implement a similar system in 2021, however, it’s recommended the 25-boat limit be excluded due to the regular turn over at the boat launch.
The city will also be implementing an online boater registration system, which is expected to reduce the number of people at the boat launch.
Due to the Temporary Beach Use Bylaw, the city incurred additional costs including seasonal staff, security, fencing, and signage, with a total cost of over $36,000, and total revenue of over $39,000.
“Our strategy for 2021, if we needed to implement occupancy rate management again wouldn’t include security staff, we felt that seasonal staff could manage occupancy limits,” Richards said.
Throughout the summer, city administration developed a survey to capture the lake and beach users’ perceptions of how the beaches were managed.
The city received mixed messages from the survey, with some residents indicating that they supported fees, however, they believed the fees were too high. While others believed it was unfair to charge visitors to use a public space.
“Many residents’ responses were positive, saying the beach was less crowded, so they attended more often,” Richards said.
“Our recommendations for 2021 are to re-evaluate park fees in advance of the summer to ensure reasonable access to the city’s public spaces while also ensuring desired cost recovery if crowd management is needed again,” she said.
Survey responders were also concerned about the possibility of having to pay for parking as a resident, as it would push more traffic and parking onto the road.
“The Anniversary Park parking area was converted into accessible parking and staff parking spaces only. This allowed more space for physical distancing for patrons entering the park. The lot was still open as a drop-off zone for patrons and their beach gear, before parking at the recreation centre or finding on-street parking,” Richards said.
The Chestermere Recreation Centre Association (CRCA) experienced overcrowding in the recreation centre parking lot from beach users, and in response, the roads department provided parking barricades, signage, and assisted with line painting.
“Once the city began charging visitors to use the beach, the over-crowding in the CRCA parking area stopped,” Richards said.
The beach parking usage was 200 to500 patrons per day in 2020 and based on the Beach Management Survey, most patrons came with three to four other people.
The CRCA plans to charge for parking for the summer season beginning June 2021, and a designated area of 100 to 120 spots will be made available in the CRCA parking lot for beach parking.
“The city can anticipate that on a busy day, with four people per car, approximately 125 cars would need parking accommodations, which could theoretically be accommodated in the CRCA beach parking area and on-street parking,” Richards said.
Municipal Enforcement expressed that paid parking on the road would be too difficult to control and that the city may not have the infrastructure and capacity to manage this type of system.
“Instead, it was suggested that a no parking zone be created along the west side of West Chestermere Drive, and a permit only parking area for residents along the east side of West Chestermere Drive,” Richards said.
