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ENCINITAS: City to regulate surf camps
By RUTH MARVIN WEBSTER - Staff Writer | ∞
Justin Merkel, 11, of Phoenix catches a wave as Kevin Swed cheers him on at Beacon's Beach in Leucadia Saturday morning. Bob "Kahuna Bob" Edwards of Oceanside claims to be the first surf school in California when he started his school 21 years ago in Encinitas. (Photo by Jamie Scott Lytle - Staff Photographer) Watch the video
ENCINITAS --- Beginning surfers won't be clogging the waves and sand along Encinitas beaches next summer under a new law regulating surf camps that was enacted by the City Council last week.
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From Memorial Day through Labor Day, surf camps at Encinitas beaches will have to pay a daily fee for each of their campers and submit to a fairly rigorous permit process. Camps will be limited to Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m, with none allowed to operate on weekends or holidays.
City officials said they hope the changes will promote water safety and boost enjoyment for all beachgoers.
At least 14 commercial surf camps operated on Encinitas beaches last summer, leaving residents and visitors complaining that they were being crowded out.
Robbie Nelson, who operates Happy Barrels Surf Instruction in Encinitas, said Friday that he welcomes the new regulations.
"There are some things (about the permit process) I would debate, sure," he said, noting that he doesn't agree with prohibiting the camps on weekends. "But overall, we support it."
Nelson said he doesn't mind paying the city a per-student fee.
"I would rather give my money to Encinitas than anywhere," he said. "I think it's the best surf town in California, and you can quote me on that."
City officials said the regulations aren't intended to be a big moneymaker for Encinitas. They said the new law will probably add between $30,000 and $120,000 per year to city coffers.
Mike Stauffer, a senior analyst for the city, said Encinitas has seen an increase in surf camps in the past year, in part because other coastal cities have cracked down on them.
Several neighboring cities have laws regulating surf camps. Del Mar collects $6 per student per day for camps within its boundaries, and the city of San Diego charges 10 percent of each camp's gross proceeds. State parks, such as Carlsbad State Beach, charge 12 percent or more.
Solana Beach has banned surf camps from its beaches altogether and the city of Oceanside has recently contacted Encinitas staffers because it is contemplating a similar measure, Stauffer said.
Under Encinitas' new law, surf camps would pay the city $5 per participant per day. In addition, each of nine surfing sites along Encinitas beaches would be limited to a certain number of students. For example, a surfing site at Beacon's Beach, north of the lifeguard tower, would be limited to 24 participants.
Priority for the camp permits would be given to smaller, Encinitas-based programs.
Camp providers could be required to submit applications for their camps as early as November, with a panel expected to review the applications sometime in December.
In the applications, the camps would have to set out a detailed plan of operations, including financial resources, student-instructor ratios, pricing, insurance, instructor qualifications and a brief statement of how their camp would benefit the community.
Nelson said that oversight is a good idea.
"There are people out there who shouldn't be awarded permits, because they don't have the experience and the insurance," he said.
Contact staff writer Ruth Marvin Webster at (760) 901-4074 or rwebster@nctimes.com.
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Good idea wrote on Oct 12, 2008 7:24 PM:Now O'side needs to get off thier backsides and do the same, they have been talking about it for two years now. Beaches getting taken over.
Ask wrote on Oct 12, 2008 7:25 PM:Add this up as another sunshine tax.
Fine to regulate the companies, but seriously, a tax per student?
Whats next, taxing the private schools?
Bruce wrote on Oct 12, 2008 7:40 PM:Encinitas is currently controlled by a tax and spend City Council.
Vote the incumbants out!
ask what wrote on Oct 12, 2008 8:00 PM:what a great place we live. Too many people at the beach, then not enough and back to too many.
Make up your mind.
Bob wrote on Oct 12, 2008 11:38 PM:People making profit on others free surf time should pay their fair share.
They crowd up the beach with non-swimmers, they should pay for their share of City services.
Grump wrote on Oct 13, 2008 5:16 AM:Snobs, snobs, snobs....tax, tax, tax, the beach is too crowded, give me a break. How is this helping small business?
tcm wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:23 AM:the people own the beach period. You shouldn't be taxed to go to the beach to learn to surf.
I bet wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:40 AM:the Surfrider Association is behind this because you brats are getting in their way on their beach. Pay the fees to them so they have more donations to live on. The ocean is free Village Idiots!
Larry wrote on Oct 13, 2008 7:22 AM:The city should ban all wetsuits made of synthetic, man-made materials. Only hemp based wetsuits should be allowed.
Jerry wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:01 AM:Sorry Folks but the City Needs the money. How Else will we be able to afford those fat pensions for all the City Employees? Some One has to pay?
Seriously wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:25 AM:Gimme a break. No weekends? Who really cares if the kooks crowd the slop. From what I've seen, it's not like these camps are taking over Swami's. I say surfing is for everyone, let the nerf board hoards provide entertainment.
Welcome to Regulation wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:47 AM:It seems that everything is regulated. Most of the schools operate on the South beach between Moonlight and Stone Steps. They should be allowed to operate on the weekend - maybe the morning hours or at a certain "spot" if the city is so lame to make them do so. Most of the time, these students are just having fun playing with a foam surfboard in the surf. Many are underprivlaged kids who do not have a chance to go in the water. I know where these schools are, so I don't go to that part of the beach. The problem with Encinitas beaches are they are too narrow for everyone to have a spot on the sand. San Diego is better suited because of their wider beaches.
outdoors wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:49 AM:All the surfers out there were beginners at one point. So all those who complain about "kooks" are the real kooks in my opinion. I've been here since I was a kid in 1960. I don't surf every day or every week for that matter. I'm not the best out there, but I have fun and that's what it is all about.
The City of Encinitas and all other beach cities should be happy that people are enjoying themselves and getting some fresh air and exercise. Don't discourage a good activity by taxing it!
Pro and Con wrote on Oct 13, 2008 9:44 AM:this is a tough issue, but for me, it boils down to whether private companies should be able to set up shop on public beaches for free. I say no. This regulation sounds like a reasonable response to what could become a huge problem, if it hasn't already. Talking about the kids, or how the "ocean is free" are smoke screen arguments. The bottome line is, if you want to use public property for private enterprises, you gotta pay a fee. Plain and simple.
bibo wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:30 AM:polititians and lawmakers are truly the lowest scum on this planet
City Employee wrote on Oct 13, 2008 1:57 PM:The City is not taxing surfing...they are taxing the businesses that make money from taking other free surfers space. Its only fair and someone needs to pay for my full pay retirement!
Show them wrote on Oct 13, 2008 2:08 PM:Stop buying in Encinitas. Go to one of the neighboring towns. Move up or down the beach until you are out of their money grabbing village. All these folks understand is money. Deprive them of it and watch them change their ways.
Oside beachgoer wrote on Oct 13, 2008 4:57 PM:Are you going to charge the daycamp providers that bring the kids to the beach by the busload? It's the same principal. They need entertainment for the kids, so they bring caravans of campers to the beach. It only seems fair that if you're charging the surf schools, you should charge the daycamp providers as well.
resident wrote on Oct 13, 2008 6:36 PM:When will they start regulating the junior lifeguard program? They take up the entire beach (block it off with ropes and cones) all summer long. I've had enough of all those kids running in/out of the water and then reserving the beach for just them.
X wrote on Oct 13, 2008 8:26 PM:build another staircase near h, i, j street, whats w/the abandoned apt complex on f?
Surfedthere2 wrote on Oct 13, 2008 10:41 PM:I started surfing at 14. I stood up the ist wave i caught and never looked back. I never needed an instructer, what a joke. When i surfed in S.Africa and Bali, I never needed some jerk telling me what I should do. That is what true surfing is all about: The Challenge. We would of run those guys(not the ones trying to learn), but the instructor (Exploiter) of today,off the beach. That is what ruined surfings true adventure, Commercialisation and silly camps, stupid contests, etc. Be a man, take a trip out into the Pacific or Indian ocean and find your waves, that is what surfing is about, not your dumb schools where you fleece the newbies.
glad to see it wrote on Oct 13, 2008 11:31 PM:Last summer, I was lying on my blanket, reading a book, when a surf school decided to set up shop 2 inches from me. I put my earplugs in, turned up my i-pod and kept reading. 10 minutes later, I was tapped on the shoulder, with a demand that I move over 8 feet as I was infringing on their area and might accidently "get hurt". I declined to move and was harrassed for the next hour. Enough is enough. I say, too bad, so sad, nothing in life is free.
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