Right to bare (all) dispute at Three Mile Beach in Penticton

Property owners near Three Mile Beach in Penticton, B.C., want to close the popular nude beach, but city councillors are looking for ways to keep the clothing optional hangout open.

Three Mile Beach has been a safe haven for nudists for decades, but this year a group of concerned property owners have asked the city to ban nudists from the public beach.

City councillors voted unanimously Monday in favour of having staff look into options to appease both nudists and the people against them.

Penticton's Mayor Andrew Jakubeit is hoping to find some common ground between the two groups.

"Both sides are very polarized, Both sides are saying there is no compromise or there shouldn't have to be any compromise. I think that both need to play well in the sandbox to some degree and think council is trying to find that compromise." 

The city will look at creating visual barriers on the beach to separate nudists from other bathers, or re-locating the nude bathing area to another part of the beach.

Jakubeit says the city hopes to have the matter settled before summer.