Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

Three Mile Beach users are concerned after a sign and surveillance camera were installed at the far end of the Penticton beach.

The sign reads: "Children live in our neighbourhood, nudity is illegal, trespassing is illegal, any illegal activity will be reported to the RCMP and the area is under 24 hour surveillance."

"Yesterday, a young mother attended the beach, and her child was playing nude down in the water... bit of a moral hazard, in my opinion," said a beachgoer, who wishes to remain anonymous. "Who is capturing those images? What purpose do they serve and what's to stop those images from being distributed?"



The source of the sign is believed to be the Neighbourhood Association of Three Mile Beach.

Some neighbours, including Cary Pinkowski, who owns land on Three Mile Road, are concerned about use of the beach by nudists.

The posting of the sign comes on the heels of a lawsuit filed April 24 by Pinkowski's Hermitage Vineyards Ltd., listing several naturists who use the beach as defendants.

The suit claims when Hermitage purchased the property in 2006, the defendants were freely using it by way of illegal trespass. From 2007 to 2013, the plaintiff repeatedly asked the defendants and others to stop trespassing. Signs were posted, but were torn down within days of being erected. Cameras were also installed on the property that showed one of the defendants stealing a camera.

The suit further states that, on April 7, city council resolved it would not authorize nudity on the beach and would not erect signs notifying the public that nudists could be using it.

The plaintiff is seeking relief, including damages for trespass and theft, an injunction prohibiting the defendants from entering the property, an injunction prohibiting the defendants, while nude, from being within 1,000 feet of the property, punitive damages and costs.

Nude sunbathers who use the beach say it has been a clothing optional location for decades. Some put out a plea for everyone to just get along at the beach this summer.

Pinkowski could not be immediately reached for comment on the posting of the new sign.