Letter to the Editor: Accessibility Problems at Public Beaches

I was up in Door County for two weeks this July. I have been a steady summer visitor for 50 years. My parents have been summer residents for 20-plus years until last year, when their health prevented them from coming up. This year we were able to get them up for a two-week visit, which was great except for going to the beach.

Both Egg Harbor and Jacksonport public beaches have had negative renovations done to them since 2014. Jacksonport Beach put in grass to keep erosion down, which is fine, but then they put in a pad of construction-size gravel as the beach. How inviting is that? I don’t know why putting in a pad of “concrete” was necessary but it sure isn’t user friendly. Jacksonport has never done a good job of managing their public beachfront, but this guarantees that people won’t come.

Egg Harbor, who has done a good job over the years sharing and managing their public beach, also put in the beach grass, but then they plunked down a swath of rocks, in the water, 10 feet wide, that are more than difficult to walk over to get to deeper water. The public beach is totally inaccessible to any “older” person who can’t manage the rocks (my parents). The water is totally inaccessible to anyone in a wheelchair. It is also hard for little kids to manage the rocks and by the time they find sand it is too deep for them to play. What was Egg Harbor thinking? Each day we went there, people were trying to create a path through the rocks. Kids were throwing them to get them out of the way.

I understand and support ecology and preserving the waterfront but this is public access and everyone should have access. I know there are other beaches to visit, and we did. However, these two are the closest to our home. Door County is a natural beauty that should be shared with everyone. That means having access. I spent my childhood summers in Door County and have brought my own children every summer to share its resources. I have watched the water level rise and fall. These “fixes” aren’t going to change that. Most likely the rocks at Egg Harbor will be scattered all over with the winter storms. Hopefully they won’t be replenished!

Thank you for your time.

Cindy McCormick

Seattle, Wash.