Texas surf park stymied by "public pool" requirements

Surf Parks

First major surf park in the USA required to meet public pool standards

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 13 July, 2016 - The USA’s first major surf park is being pressured to meet the same health and safety requirements as public swimming pools. The park, NLand Surf Park in Austin Texas, is now facing a lawsuit to prevent it from opening.

County commissioners in Travis County where the park is located, have authorised the lawsuit to prevent the park from opening according to reports by KXAN

In a statement from NLand the park said that the lawsuit came as a surprise.

“NLand will not open until we can assure our guests the park will meet the highest standards for quality and safety," the park said in an email to subscribers. "We are disappointed the county commissioners would take such drastic measures, without explanation. We look forward to creating a win-win solution for Travis County, NLand and most importantly the millions of surfers and surfers-to-be worldwide.”

The park, which is set in a man-made lagoon, measures roughly nine-football fields in size. Although it holds 11 million gallons of rainwater run-off, county commissioners saw fit to hold the surf park to health standards required of concrete public swimming pools.

For public swimming pools to operate in Texas they must use specified levels of chlorine, have bathroom facilities close to the pool's edge and can be charged fees for inspections.

Earlier this year the park faced another challenge when it parted ways with developers Honokea. At the time NLand surf park chief Doug Coors said: “We worked with Honokea in the early stages of the project, but the company is no longer involved. We are excited about the future of surfing in Austin, Texas and look forward to sharing more information about NLand in the near future.”

The park boasts that it will be the only inland surfing destination in North America for surfers and wave sport enthusiasts from novices to world-class competitors. The park said the lagoon will feature perfectly tubing waves every 60 seconds with a lengthy ride of 35 seconds per wave.