What you wear at Vancouver public pools now up for debate

The Vancouver Park Board is set to vote on new guidelines for attire that's allowed and not allowed at public pools across the city.

"The question is, does it meet a standard that Canadians find acceptable and does it appropriately cover the genitals," said Park Board Director Tom Digby. "We do have a bylaw that says you must be appropriately clothed at the swimming pools, but in this day and age staff is starting to ask us -- what does that mean in this day and age?"

Digby says the pool staff has seen a recent increase in complaints. He says in one instance, a man showed up to a public pool wearing only a sock.

"There has been a gentleman known to arrive wearing a sock, and not on his foot," said Digby.

Some of the unacceptable attire include, but are not limited to:

• Items designed for sexual/intimate purposes

• Clothing which absorbs water and becomes heavy such as jeans or sweatpants

• Attire with long/flowing fabric that may limit movement or cause a safety risk

"So we have a safety concern on the one side and then we have a minimal coverage concern on the other side," said Digby.

Some pool users we spoke with say minimal guidelines are preferred.

"The idea of a threshold I think is probably appropriate. Beyond that, you just can't go and try to impose some sort of subjective standard like that," said Tom MacDonald.

"Us that have small kids, maybe something that shows too much bikini, maybe kind of inappropriate," said fellow pool user Vahid Pirmoradi. "I'm not sure that you can regulate or impose on them."

Similar to Edmonton's recent guidelines, there's nothing stopping anyone from going topless to a Vancouver pool. However, Digby admits that some decisions will be up to pool staff's discretion.

The vote to accept the new guidelines is set for Monday night.