Petition calls for use changes at Weirs Beach

Bt ALANA PERSSON, LACONIA DAILY SUN

LACONIA — The crack of dawn on the Fourth of July signifies more than the start of a national holiday at the Weirs Beach, as it marks the arrival of hundreds of tourists who make the trek from Northern Massachusetts. People fill the sidewalks with babies in strollers, grills and coolers in hand, towels and bags filled to the brim.

“It looks like people are getting ready to head to a football game rather than a day at the beach,” said Mayor Ed Engler. “As soon as the beach opens hundreds of people fill the park and within a half hour it is almost completely filled."

The festivities that begin at the beach early in the morning are usually met with music, the cooking of food on charcoal grills and many people filling the water. Historically, the majority of the people who gather at Weirs Beach are of Hispanic background, which creates a festive vibe that many locals are not used to, according to Kevin Dunleavy, Director of Recreation and Facilities for the City of Laconia.

“It’s great to see people from out of town choose to come to the Weirs and have a good time,” said Dunleavy. “I don’t think we should be discouraging people from coming to the area, because this type of event attracts a lot of families whose kids will hopefully want to carry out the tradition when they get older.”

Dunleavy’s view of the festivities that happen annually in the Weirs is not mirrored by all members of the community, however, as some are vehemently opposed to the activities on the beach. One individual in particular that has responded differently than Dunleavy is Massachusetts native and Laconia summer-home resident, Juan Illidge.

Although Illidge enjoys the general Fourth of July festivities, he is not thrilled about the crowds that amass at the Weirs Beach, as he does not believe the visitors are positively contributing to the community. To express these concerns, Illidge created a petition on change.org, which aimed to address the negative effects the crowds have on the beach.

One of the main concerns Illidge has with the event pollution that was caused by the crowd. In his petition, he states that the tourists are causing damage to the environment through leaving garbage at the beach, and also displacing the locals who wish to visit the Weirs and support local businesses.

“I was walking my dog the morning after the Fourth of July, and when I looked over at the beach from the boardwalk all I saw was garbage everywhere, even diapers floating in the water and washed up on the shoreline,” said Illidge. “It was gross to look at and didn’t make me want to go to the beach.”

The unsanitary appearance of the shoreline and beach that Illidge witnessed early in the morning does not stay untouched for long on July 5, as Dunleavy says that he has teams cleaning the beach up starting at 5:30 a.m. The beach is completely cleared of any Fourth of July garbage and debris by 8:30 a.m. so that it can be ready for the next crowd of beach goers, according to Dunleavy.

The issue with the litter and pollution is not solved with the early morning clean up though, according to Illidge, as the damage done to the water and environment can have lasting effects. Some of these long-term negative impacts include hurting the local wildlife or damaging the water quality at Weirs Beach, which has caused the beach to temporarily close due to high levels of bacteria.

“I want to find ways that promote having people keep the place clean and leave the beach the way they found it, said Illidge. “There should be simple rules and they should be enforced.”

Some of the changes that Illidge suggest include issuing fines for littering and improving the enforcement of capacity limits at the beach. These two changes could have a large impact on keeping the beach clean, according to Illidge.

Another concern with the out-of-town guests is the use of charcoal grills, which are allowed in the Weirs Beach park area. Grills brought to the beach not only present a possible safety hazard, but in Illidge’s opinion are also preventing tourists from purchasing food at local businesses.

“People who come to the beach with grills are not going to be buying food or ice cream from local places on the boardwalk,” said Illidge. “If they weren’t allowed to grill then they would be inclined to purchase food locally and support businesses.”

The notion that the local businesses are being directly impacted by the use of grills was not fully echoed by all restaurant owners in the Weirs, however.

“We can’t tell people not to bring their grills to the beach, I mean that would be like telling people they couldn’t bring food to tailgate at a football game,” said Steven Farris of Half Moon Pizza. “People are going to bring their outside food and, let’s face it, if they are bringing burgers they aren’t going to want pizza anyways. We still do fine as a business even with people bringing their own food.”

Other businesses in the area, such as Hart’s Slush, stated that there was consistently a long line on the Fourth of July with many of the customers coming from tourist crowd.

“We can’t ban outside food, because for some people that’s what makes the trip affordable,” said Dunleavy. “We also can’t ban grills just at the Weirs Beach location, because if we did that then we would have to ban them from all public beaches in the city.”

Another part of the petition Illidge created was aimed at directly impacting locals like himself who want to use the beach on the Fourth of July. In order to encourage locals to come to the Weirs, he proposed that there be taxation and regulation within private parking lots around the area and a small reserve of parking spots for local residents.

“There are so many people that come up from out of town that they take up all the parking spots by 6:30 a.m. and then there is no way for locals to go to the beach,” said Illidge. “We feel displaced by the number of people during the holiday and then feel displaced the day after due to the massive amount of litter left behind.”

The petition is addressed to both Dunleavy and Scott Myers, Laconia city manager. Both individuals were aware of the petition, yet did not seem to have spent much time worrying about the matter. With a vague recollection of the requests within the petition, Myers and Dunleavy said that many of the requests are already in action or are not possible under permitting agreements.

“We are constantly trying to improve the situation for everyone, we’ve even gone so far as to ban enclosed tents and hammocks to make the beach more enjoyable” said Dunleavy. “But in general, people need to realize that when you have a holiday like the 4th of July and a nice beach, you are going to find crowds like this anywhere.”  

Myers echoed that changes have been and will continue to be made by the city to keep the beach clean for both locals and tourists. Yet, he said that some of the proposed solutions, such as charging people to go to the beach or reserve spots for locals, are not permitted under certain regulations that the city agreed to upon reopening the area as a public beach.

“We do what we can to keep the beaches clean and we also ask others to help clean up after themselves,” said Myers. “The Fourth of July is a festive day that I hope people continue to enjoy in the City of Laconia.”

The petition and conversation surrounding the proposal to keep the Weirs Beach clean for locals and tourists can be found at www.change.org/p/scott-myers-keep-weirs-beach-pristine-and-foster-tourism-that-benefits-the-local-economy.