It was meant to be a new law that could keep loud, boorish visitors from disturbing the peace and quiet at a public beach in one of B.C.'s most exclusive communities.
But a new bylaw in Lions Bay that would reserve Kelvin Grove Beach Park for local divers -- and ban divers from out of town -- is drawing fire from people who say the village is just trying to keep public property for themselves.
"I think they want their own exclusive little community and they're more important because they have more money than everyone else," said Steve Redding, a diver who was warned off the beach recently by angry locals.
"We turned up there and started unloading, and the neighbours came out and started screaming," he said.
The villagers are on edge as the new Sea to Sky Highway brings more traffic into the community -- and the mayor says more divers mean more problems.
"We're talking about undressing in the parking lot, public urination, drinking," said village mayor Brenda Broughton. "It's outrageous."
The village council restricted parking for visitors to Kelvin Grove, put up warning signs against public nudity, and made it illegal for anyone not from Lions Bay to dive there.
The fines for a bylaw infraction could be between $2,000 and $10,000.
But a law that keeps non residents away from a public beach might be discriminatory. Often laws like these sound neutral, but target a whole class of people, even if many of them haven't done anything wrong.
"Any attempt to create a class of people who caused these problems -- those kinds of laws are always suspect and ripe for a challenge," said Michael Vonn with the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
When CTV News asked the mayor if the law was illegal, she said she would get back to us.
"Certainly that is something that needs to be drawn to the attention of our legal council we will do that," she said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward
