AP Wire story, Montpelier office. 11/6/2002. 


WILMINGTON, Vt. (AP) - Voters in Wilmington narrowly overturned an
ordinance banning nude bathing at The Ledges, a popular skinny-dipping
spot in town.
Residents voted to revoke the ordinance 495 to 478, said Town Clerk
Susan Manton.
The vote reverses a town vote in August that upheld the ordinance, which
was imposed by the Select Board in July. It would have imposed a $500
fine on skinny-dippers.
Phil Markham, a Rochester, N.Y., lawyer and fan of The Ledges, had
fought a public relations campaign against the ban. He said Wednesday
that the turnaround happened after people who lived in town started
paying attention to the issue.
"When Wilmington people finally took a very hard look at this ordinance
and what it was, they had some very deep concerns about freedom and
losing freedom," said Markham. "They're the ones that turned things
around."
The Ledges is a rocky section of shoreline on the Harriman Reservoir.
All the land abutting the lake is owned by Pacific Gas & Electric, which
last summer tried to set specific zones where nude bathing was
permitted. It has attracted nude bathers in the summer for about 25
years, but has grown in popularity in recent years. Now hundreds visit
in the summer.
The issue came up after people who own property nearby complained that
some of the bathers were committing sex acts in the woods or defecating
there.
Markham said Wednesday that those problems - which he prefers to term
"misbehavior" or "misconduct" were overstated. The Vermont Health
Department visited the Ledges last summer to investigate.
"They found absolutely no problems," he said. He added that Pacific Gas
& Electric patrols the area, and the naturists who use The Ledges do as
well.
"I'm sure that those efforts will be increased," he said. "I anticipate
that any problems will be just not be tolerated."
Has the issue been put to rest? Markham hopes so.
"I hope it's over," he said. "There's a chance that the opposition could
bring it up in another 12 months, but I don't think that's going to
happen. Once people in Vermont started looking beyond the ledges at what
the implications were to them, it became a whole different story."