Tension brewing between beach-goers and Constance Bay locals as crowds grow

Crowds flocking to Constance Bay beach CTV’s Dave Charbonneau on residents raising alarm bells over beach visitors.

OTTAWA — What many consider Constance Bay’s best kept secret is now public knowledge.

"We love coming here because it's a nice family beach and it's outside of the city of Ottawa," says Warren MacDonald, a visitor to the beach.

However, some residents in the area say too many people are disrespecting their sandy patch of paradise.

"It’s every weekend and almost every day. It’s sheer volume," says Rick Charlebois, local resident. "I don’t know how we can expect everybody to not be a little bit upset."

Area councillor Eli El-Chantiry wants residents and visitors alike to do what they can to keep Constance Bay a nice place to visit.

"I wish our residents be a little bit patient and also the visitors to clean behind themselves and take their garbage home. It’s nothing against the guests who’s coming. The problem is the capacity," says El-Chantiry.

Another major issue is parking. There are so many cars parked at the beach it leaves little to no space for emergency vehicle access.

"You’ve got fire trucks, you’ve got paramedics, and you’ve got police. You can imagine, with the size of a fire truck, it's almost impossible," says local resident Mike O’Reilly.

The higher number of beach-goers also isn't helping to restore confidence in the cleanliness of facilities.

"We’ve been promised the Porta Potties be sanitized once a day. So, what we’ve ended up with is people not wanting to use the Porta Potties," says O’Reilly. "They go behind the fire station, just up the street. That’s now taped off with police tape because people were going there to do their business."

Constance Bay locals want everybody to be able to enjoy the beach but, this year, the crowds have been overwhelming.

Charlebois says, "Anybody who’s ever come to the bay in the past has always been welcome and it's pretty hard not to welcome people, but too much is too much."