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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, N ov em be r 18 ,2 02 1 | 22 Last August, the Oak- ville Beaver met with 61- year-old Randy King at the base of Kerr Street along Lake Ontario to talk about his rock stacking hobby. King talked about how he wanted to dedicate his work to the Indigenous and how it helps relax his mind. But not long after, a by- law officer approached him and told him he can- not build his sculptures anymore and let him off with a warning. But King derives enormous mental health benefits from rock stacking and wants to con- tinue doing it. Both sides have indicated that they are willing to compromise towards a solution. Director of Parks and Open Spaces Chris Mar- k "encourages Mr. King to reach out to the Parks and Open Space department to discuss a solution that al- lows everyone safe enjoy- ment of our parks and open spaces." He confirms that a warning "asking him to stop building rock struc- tures and asking for dona- tions because of a number of concerns" was issued. He added they "sympa- thize with Mr. King's situa- tion," but there was a "safe- ty risk to children who try to touch or play with the structures." The piles of stones found all along the lake's shore themselves are also part of a "shore- line rehabilitation to pre- vent erosion to the town land." Parks bylaw 2013-013 does not allow any person from doing anything that could prevent a person from accessing a public park. The bylaw also pro- hibits "any person from of- fering any art, skill or ser- vice without the written permission of the Director [of Parks and Open Space]." "This is my mental health, and I know when I come down and do this, a lot of people get mental re- lief just by coming down and spending five minutes here," King said. "My girlfriend was mad at me for two weeks be- cause I stopped. She said 'look at you. It's been five days and look at you!'" "I come down and put two or three [stone sculp- tures] and I'm like, sigh... In the winter I'm going to suffer. If the winter is not too bad, I might go just be- fore Christmas. But I know January and February are too cold," King said. NEWS LOCAL MAN SEEKS COMPROMISE WITH TOWN ON ROCK SCULPTURES MANSOOR TANWEER mtanweer@metroland.com Randy King sits at the waterfront trail near Kerr Street. Mansoor Tanweer photo