Scores of Vancouverites feel the city should ease up on enforcing operating hours on beaches. But police say significant public safety challenges arise on the shores after dark.
Operating hours for Vancouver’s parks, beaches, and gardens are from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. The Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation works with the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) to be more “proactive about educating and enforcing the rules around operating hours” during the summer months.
“This is in the interest of public safety as we tend to see larger gatherings of people during warmer months at our more popular beaches,” the board told V.I.A.
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Vancouver criminal lawyer Kyla Lee said beach-goers may face enforcement for being at one of the 10 city-managed beaches after 10 p.m.
“If they are, they could get a ticket or be forced off if they stay out too long. If the beach is not one of those [10] locations, it would be up to provincial law. But here’s the kicker: these laws in the Vancouver city limits are enforced by the police of jurisdiction (the VPD),” she told V.I.A.
“The authority for managing and controlling the land near the ocean is based on the low tide mark and anything that borders inland waters, like bays and harbour. Anything inland of the low tide mark or within inland waters is provincial jurisdiction. Everything else is federal,” the lawyer explained.
