Park District Meeting. 2/28

[skysurfr]

We will be meeting with the Chicago Park District on the 28th of Feb.

If you have any input please speak up. Representing the kitesurfers will be myself and Adrien. Jess from Windward will be discussing SUP issues and there will be someone there from Surfrider to discuss surfing issues.

I'll make the annual request for beach signs. Beyond that I'm not sure we need anything else for Kitesurfing. We will be discussing more SUP and Surf access as well as some beach safety days.

If nobody else is there, I will take up the cause for the windsurfers as well.

Your input is more than welcome.... it's invited! Speak up please!

Mike

[skysurfr]

Nothing?

[Dutchkiteboarder]

Mike what time is the meeting on Tuesday? I would be interested to see how it all would go.

[skysurfr]

4pm meeting....

Since we aren't really asking for anything kitesurf related, it should be a non event. There's a new admin down there. Meet and greet. E major issues are SUP and Surf related.... More access.

Mike

[Dutchkiteboarder]

I am just curious how the meeting would go and get a better understanding of whats going on. But ill skip it and leave it all to you guys.

[skysurfr]

Both Adrien and I will be there. 2 from Surfrider Chicago. Jess from Windward and Ian from Great Lakes Paddleboarding will also be there.

We plan to request more access for surfing and supping. Signs are on the request list once again.

I expect no "big issues" or hurdles.

Mike

[skysurfr]

The meeting went very well today.

Adrien presented our needs with input from myself as well. Basically, we can expect to operate as we have in the past. Once again, we are working on those signs.

As things progress, it's likely you'll see more access for both surfing and SUPing.

Mike Kelly complimented us and encouraged us to stay safe and asked that we avoid conflicts with both the Bird People and the Dog People. He thanked us in advance for not having to take phone calls from angry Bird Watchers and Dog Beach users.

Mike Kelly, the superintendent has a surfboard and a snowboard in his office. Get the point....he likes to ride just like we do.

We spent a total of 1 hour in discussions and are going forward on several issues. Those include signs, more access, etc.

Thanks.

Mike

[skysurfr]

I got a call today, Saturday, from the CPD. Here's an update on our progress.....

Kiteboard Area Signs- The verbiage is in the hands of the legal department. Expect some signs.

SUP- Additional beaches have been requested which basically fill in the whole lakefront. Highlights include the ability to SUP between Montrose / Foster / Hollywood rather than just going in circles off Montrose.

There's a SUP race being planned for August by Windward Sports.

Surf- The surf request for all beach AYOR access in the off season is stalled. The CPD requested a more detailed proposal from Surfrider and they have thus far been unable to present one.

The person handling these issues is a proud new father and has had a pretty full plate for the last month. I've been getting great updates from him and am happy with the progress.

Mike

[jojy]

Mike, and not to start a big -if any- argument, I just have one question :
When surfing in Montrose beach, we need to be aware / be careful and consider for :
*Dog ppl
*Birds area
*Swimmers
*Kayaks
*Boats
*Beach goers
Etc'....
I just wanted to know if there is ANY part of this beach or other, that others will have to give us the right away, and be careful of us ?
Maybe it's just me, but it seems like we're all been looked at and treated like 2nd hand ppl, like some sort of disease that needs to get away from
Why not try to ask our beloved district to dedicate a place or part of the beach FOR kiters ??
With all the above list, looks like nothing really change and basically, rent a boat, go a mile or two in the lake and hope you can have some fun.....

Didn't really wanted to add my opinion (you probably figured why by now..) but it's feels like, in a more simple words, that we've been asked to bend over and.....thank god they didn't ask us to bring soap with us to the beach

[4w7s]

NEWS FLASH!!!

Kitesurfing IS a disease...
so is alcholism, drug addiction, various other obsessive compulsive disorders.

I think the issue is that other people might be willing to tolerate our disease as long as we don't f*#k them up in the process. If we force our disease on them without regard for their safety they will "sanitize" us. In a game of numbers, kitsurfers vs the world....we lose. PERIOD.

In other words...use your head about this issue.

[jojy]

Roberto, I think you've missed my point.
Kayakers get their spot, The DOGs get their spot even the F'ing birds does !!
.
.
.
Why in the world kite-sport generally can't get the same recognition like everybody else ?? Why do we need to adjust our-self to other Vs BE a part of them (not above, not let them adjust to us) just one of the groups getting the same rights like others ??
Every time the kiters community (especially Mike here..) talk to the authorities, it's sounds like kissing butts and please please please think about us..??
Don't get me wrong, without Mike, Adrian and some others here doing the fine work (..voluntarily if I may add) we probably couldn't even use the beach, just as if it belong to them and them ONLY !!
Did I mention 2nd hand already ??

Bottom line, I do NOT fool myself, I don't really expect anything to change, but with this kind of attitude, of acceptance as "the ugly kid in the hood" , it would probably will continue to be as is......and they will keep treat us as 'the disease' anyway.......shame

[4w7s]

Roberto, I think you've missed my point.
Kayakers get their spot, The DOGs get their spot even the F'ing birds does !!

actually...I did not miss your point at all.

Consider this - in effect we kitesurfers each potentially occupy about 982 sq meter (10, 570 square feet) - almost a quarter of an acre - if you fly with 25m lines, and that is if we are stationary. The fact that we are constantly moving vastly increases the amount of real estate we occupy from one moment to the next. Let's say you have 12 guys riding on the same day that adds up to 3 acres right there. Of course most of us can launch and land our kites in a more efficient use of space, and anyone certified to ride at Montrose should be able to stay clear of others, but the fact remains that we take up a lot of room. By comparison a kayak takes up at most 30 square feet, a pet occupies less than 5 SF (and I would not even start challenging a pet owner right to walk their dog -"man's best friend" after all), and IMO the birds and their protagonists deserve plenty of courtesy and privilege as well. Aside perhaps from an out of control dog, our passion (kitesurfing) has a lot more potential to do harm when mixed with other beach users. I imagine the dog owners haves relevant rules and responsbilities to live up to - even though they might not like it. On a busy beach day the situation at Montrose would be utter chaos if nobody had rules to follow. People should just get used to the rules - which, after over 5 years of following this subject, seem very reasonable to me. And much gratitude is owed to the individual who has taken the lead on this.

Now consider this: without these rules, and without some cooperation with the City, or with unwillingness by kiters to follow the rules, there would be NO KITING AT MONTROSE.

[IVO]

Joly as much as I understand your point your view,

I have to add,You are actually missing one important point buddy,kitesurfers came Last to to The water games...Last one,after surfers,windsurfers,dogs,birds,kaykers and other animals...Last one!So with that in mind dont expect that people will start throwing roses with open arms on you,we only taking more spaces from all the guys in front of us.They dont want to give us space,just like that..why would they?

Montrose is own animal and without the Mike,probably would have been shut down for downtown boys some time ago.If you dont like,how you "are being treated" why you go over there at first place?


edit...after reading Roberto post,I did short this quite a lot..

[jojy]

IVO, first, to your question about going to Motrose, not everybody can/afford to travel/ride to other destination like IN/WI/MI etc', like my situation (which I won't even start expend on that). Please please please drop that issue, cause it's been discussed before and not really want to start it all over again (maybe in our next meeting when it'll take less typing ).
To summon things down, my point was the bigger picture and NOT just Montrose beach. In Chicago, we have one beach we can kitesurf, and it's full with crap we have to follow (and I have NO problem with it), my thoughts was why not open other places to surf ? a place that ppl can also train and maybe even learn that sport ? Yes Ivo, we ware the last sport to arrived to the water, but guess what, we're not such a small community anymore, more & more ppl getting into that sport and maybe it's time to treat it as such.
Guys, I've started my first respond saying I'm not trying to open an argument, just fed up with the way this sport is treated in Chicago.......and just as a BTW, I think a lot of ppl will agree with me that Montrose is not really the ideal place to surf - so it's NOT really about Montrose, just a general sport discussion.

Hope to see you all soon..

[skysurfr]

Three years ago, working on the surf project, I asked here if we wanted to "share" with the surfers. The response was HELL YES! The CPD asked us before allowing surfers. Im not advocating being territorial, but you do bring up a good point. Sometimes we need to stand our ground and not eventually get pushed off the water completly. I understand that and thiink of it every time I go in to faceoff with the city. I agree that we share with the Kayakers, Windsurfers, surfers, and other Action-watersports...we share and are not second class citezens compared to them. We are equals.

That said common courtesy and safety rules all. Give eachother a little space. I have no problem catching waves outside for a while so the kayaks can play on the inside. Thats what safely sharing is all about.

Now... the bird and dog people are a different story. They have a powerful lobby and each have a fenced off area. They have their area, we have ours. Ours is way out in the water away from theirs. In the past we have had issues with the dogs. I was boo'd on here when qouted from the mondog.org website and said.. "call the police". They ask the dog people to do the sme thing... keep the dogsinside the fence or risk being banned. The Dog people suggest calling the police on dog owners who don't follow their rules because they don't want to be banned form the beach.

When the Supt of the PArks asks that we play nice, it's because he wants to continue to have all of us enjoying the beach. He also doesn't want to get nasty phone calls from the Dog and Bird people concerning kiteboarding. He thanked us for being so safe and never calling his office to complain.

As you see above.. we can expect some signs to designate the kitebeach area.

Mike

[skysurfr]

The surfers didn't ask for any new beaches on the open season, they will have 2.

They asked for all beach access AYOR in the off season.

There are no other beaches which work for kitesurfing in Chicago. Montrose is it. There are a few places where you could go out and risk a big downwinder when you can't get back. (Northerly Island). Also Hayes street looks just like Montrose but Lakeshore Diive is as close as the Dog Beach at Montrose. (Kites on LSD! outch!)

They ask me each time... Want to open another beach. My response.. YES!...but there isn't a safe one.

I find that we are treated with professional respect from the CPD. Please remember that there were several years that I was asked by the kitesurfers to say and do nothing with the city...just leave it alone and not rock the boat. We operated in the shadows quite nicely, but made no real progress in legitimizing the sport. We are back on track again with our meeting and engagement.

Thanks as always for the input.

Mike

[jojy]

Well explained Mike,
Thanks

[Like To Kite]

Thank you so much for all the hard work you have done to keep Montrose Beach accessible to all!

I became an IKO instructor last November so I am now offering IKO Certifications!
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10739

Thanks so much and looking forward to seeing all of you soon!

Happy Kiting!

[skysurfr]

THANK YOU AMANDA!!!!

[skysurfr]

...also Im sure that the CPH would allow us to do a Certification DAy...at the beach...if we coordinate it with some safety lookouts on the beach etc.

Let me know if you're interested.

Mike