The waterfront in Sylvan Lake, pictured Friday morning, was much busier last Saturday. Officials are hoping to avoid a repeat this weekend. (rdnewsNOW/Troy Gillard)

By Josh Hall and Troy Gillard

personal responsibility

Crowd control measures in place for this weekend at Sylvan Lake

Jul 17, 2020 | 11:42 AM

The Town of Sylvan Lake is stepping up its game to ensure adequate measures are in place to control waterfront crowding.

Last Saturday, the term ‘Sylvan Lake’ trended on Twitter for all the wrong reasons after images surfaced showing dense crowds of people at the popular Alberta beach.

RELATED: Alberta Health: Large crowds at Sylvan Lake beach a no-no

The Town stated Monday that it lacked the authority to do much about it because it’s a provincial park, while RCMP said it was an “implausible” task to enforce the public health order against that many people.

Now, The Town says several actions are being taken in order to avoid a repeat.

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• Increased RCMP presence along waterfront, enforcing park rules including public health orders such as physical distancing.
• Increased number of Bylaw and Peace Officers to assist in educating the public on health orders, and to enforce municipal bylaws. Members will also have access to, and hand out face masks where they identify a need.
• Increased signage, including signage to reinforce public health orders, and signage to identify waterfront parking restrictions.
• Closure of public waterfront parking lots once they are full; once public waterfront parking lots are full, they will be closed and remain closed until 6 p.m. that evening.
• The parking lots and any associated closures will be staffed.
• Electronic signage into town, which will indicate if and when the volume of people within the waterfront becomes a concern.
• Observation of successes, continued challenges, and potential needs. Following this weekend, Administration will again assess the health and safety needs of the waterfront, and where required, take additional measures to mitigate potential health and safety risks associated with an influx of visitors to the community.

“We spent the week meeting with our own staff, the RCMP, solicitor general, Alberta Health, Alberta Environment and Parks, and more professionals to try and come up with a plan to keep people safe as they enjoy Sylvan Lake,” Mayor Sean McIntyre told rdnewsNOW on Friday. “First and foremost, we need everyone to act responsibly and take their health into consideration, as well as the health of those around them.”

McIntyre added that follow-up meetings will be had after this weekend to determine any further steps that need to be taken.

He noted that to start, electronic signs will bear a message related to health, but once parking lots are full and close, the messaging will switch to let visitors know that.

“With over four million Albertans looking for something great to do on a sunny Saturday, there is not enough enforcement in the province to look over everybody’s shoulder,” McIntyre said. “So really, personal responsibility is imperative and we’re asking for every Albertan’s help in order to help keep everyone safe and healthy.”

Visitors could face a $1,200 fine for not obeying the public health order related to physical distancing.

RELATED: ‘Implausible task’ to enforce against Sylvan Lake beach crowds: RCMP