Shorewood Going to Plan B on Atwater Beach Security Fence

North Lake Drive residents pleading for village officials to re-erect security fencing near Atwater Beach may have to settle for Shorewood's "Plan B" to deterring trespassers onto their privately-owned beaches.

Fences running along the north and south edge of Atwater Beach were taken down in 2009 after the village’s Parks Commission, citing a citizen group's concern that the ugly chain-linked fence ruined the beach and falling apart, approved their removal.

Soon after, became a daily occurrence on their private property. Other problems reported included underage drinking, drug use, littering, people leaving behind broken glass and syringes, theft, unattended fires, vandalism and teens having sex.

"When the fences were up during construction, there was a noticeable decrease, almost absence, of the crime we are talking about," Trustee Don Ford said.

Officials considered putting the fence back up, initially from agencies that typically have jurisdiction over placing fencing on public beach property.

However, Ford said Monday the state Department of Natural Resources advised against a fence that would run from the water's edge to the ordinary high water mark.

In addition, if officials re-erected fencing which denied the public the right to access navigable waterways uniform with the public trust doctrine.

So, Ford said Monday he wants staff to look at another option. Instead of replacing the fences on the beach, the village could place a fence at the top of the bluff that would stop traffic onto the beach after close.

“There is an ordinance that has the beach close at 10 p.m.,” Ford said. “We would close that park by putting a fence at the entrance to the stairs.

"There's already a plan to restrict access so people can't drive down to the beach after dark (via an access road)."

No-trespassing signs placed at the either edge of Atwater Beach were stolen twice, but Ford recommended posting new signs at the borders advising beach-goers to "stay off the jetties" and "the beach ends here, respect your neighbors."

Some trustees said the fence and restricted access road wouldn’t totally prevent people from accessing the beach because people can just walk down the bluff.

Ford said, however, the idea is to take away the ease of access and provide a deterrent to trespassing.