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Oshkosh park board backs ordinance to ban wakeboarding and similar towable activities on section of Fox River
Summary
The Oshkosh Advisory Park Board voted unanimously to recommend a municipal code amendment that would prohibit water-skiing, wakeboarding and other towable-person activities on a defined stretch of the Fox River; the board will forward the proposal to city council for ordinance readings.
The Oshkosh Advisory Park Board on Wednesday voted to forward to city council a proposed amendment to municipal code section 17-29 that would ban motorboats towing persons on water skis, aquaplanes, wakeboards or similar devices on a defined stretch of the Fox River.
The proposed language read to the board would bar towable recreational activities on the Fox River from a point 900 feet south of the Canadian National Railroad bridge upstream to a point 1,900 feet upstream of the Oshkosh Congress Avenue bridge. Parks staff said the change is intended to reduce shoreline erosion and conflicts with riverside properties.
“Just the towable sports would have a speed limit or a no-towable — like no towable, aquaplane boards and stuff working in those sections of the river for that to reduce the wake,” said Parks staff member Mister Dolman, summarizing the ordinance text for the board. Dolman also explained that existing posted no-wake zones would remain and that the amendment targets towable sports rather than power-boat speed in general.
Board members asked whether wakeboarding and similar activities occur frequently; members and staff described the activity as sporadic and more common on weekdays when river traffic is lighter. A representative of a riverside business suggested considering limited weekend allowances, but the board focused the recommendation on the weekdays-and-weekends question for later deliberations at the council level.
The board approved the motion to recommend the ordinance by recorded voice/roll call: Adam Davis, Miller, Baum, Maxt and Herman recorded “Aye.” Parks staff said the proposal would then undergo the city’s ordinance-reading process, which typically includes two readings at council before final action.
The board’s action is a recommendation; final authority to adopt or amend the municipal code rests with Oshkosh City Council. If council decides to adopt the proposed language, permanent signs or buoys would be expected to mark the restricted corridor and enforcement would follow existing municipal and state boating rules.
The board did not set an effective date for the change; staff noted the next steps include council review and any required buoying or signage planning.
