I’m writing about a serious accessibility problem for kayakers...especially single kayakers and kayakers with mobility issues, at Beaver Island State Park.  

In July 2021, new signage was placed around the kayak launch in the parking lot closest to the marina.  The signs instructed kayakers to unload their equipment only, and park at Lot 1 up the road.  The sign claimed that only marina slip owners could park in the lot, and threatened all violators with tickets.  

*After complaints were made and questions were raised about the legality of these signs, the signs were temporarily removed.  Further discussion with marina management and park management shows no promising resolution to the marina manager’s desire to claim the entire parking lot for the exclusive use of marina patrons, so the issue remains.  

Lot 1, the main lot at the top of the hill, is only accessible directly from the kayak launch area by one narrow road in some disrepair, with a blind curve, that cars use.  There is no direct path from the kayak launch to Lot 1, and the indirect pathways go through a swampy area, are uneven, and also in disrepair.  

The wheelchair accessible kayak launch is near the marina, but at the opposite end of the parking lot.  Kayakers and marina patrons have been sharing that lot for almost a decade.  It is called the marina lot but it’s a public state park parking lot and always has been.  The spaces closest to the marina are of course for slip holders, but the lot is also the access point for picnic pavilions, public bathrooms, a disc golf course, a nature trail,  and the kayak launch…all state park amenities.  The parking spaces closest to the kayak launch are the spaces the kayakers use, since it is mere yards from those spaces to the launch ramp.  

On the state park map, this lot is clearly marked with a P, as are all the public lots.

This kayak launch was created almost ten years ago as a wheelchair accessible launch.  It is the only wheelchair accessible kayak launch in the park.  Furthermore, it is access to a unique piece of water in the park; a quiet inlet that does not allow motorboat access, is shallow, and has little current.  It is a safe area for novice paddlers and paddlers with mobility issues.  No other areas in this park along the Niagara River has an area so well suited to paddlers with special needs.  

There is a rough kayak launch area on the other end of this quiet inlet, but the banks are steep and treacherous, unpaved, frequently muddy, and that area would require paddlers to fight against a strong current to go under a narrow bridge area and fight their way into the inlet.  Otherwise, they get swept by that current out into the Niagara River, which also has a notable current.  It is not a good launch site for novice paddlers or people with mobility restrictions.

As a single woman, I appreciate the closeness of the rolling launch to the parking area.    This is the reason I purchase a New York State Empire Park Pass every year.  I use this park so often ~expressly because of this safe and convenient launch~ that I feel it’s worth the expense.  

I own over a thousand dollars in kayaking equipment, and I would not feel comfortable leaving this valuable equipment unattended, out of my line of sight, to park in a lot far away from the launch site.  The times when I usually kayak (early morning or around sunset), that parking lot adjacent to the kayak launch is always empty.  There has never been any signage restricting the lot to only marina slip holders.  Until now.  

In short; the proposed parking restrictions would make this part of the state park exclusively for the use of the marina.  The park has made no attempt, beyond this signage, to create a safe path to the alternate parking, or to create closer parking options for the kayakers, or create an allotment of kayaking parking spaces at the end of the lot furthest from the marina.

As well as being inconvenient and dangerous, blocking parking access to this unique wheelchair accessible kayak launch is a violation of the ADA.  

With an allowance of a portion of the lot for kayakers, this entire issue could be resolved.