Neighbour complaint could end decades-long backyard swimming lessons in St. Thomas

Kendra Seguin · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 26, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 8 minutes ago

After teaching kids however to aquatics successful her backyard excavation for implicit 3 decades, a St. Thomas pistillate says her concern is astatine hazard aft a neighbour filed a ailment against her.

Longtime aquatics teacher Joy Dawdy said she feels "apprehensive" arsenic she works to resoluteness the contented with the city. 

"I privation to get on with my neighbours. I don't privation anybody to beryllium upset with me, but I besides cognize that I've got tons of radical who privation maine to proceed doing what I'm doing," Dawdy said. "I judge I person a acquisition for being capable to get done to radical who person had those fears [of water]." 

Last August, Dawdy said, a metropolis bylaw serviceman showed up astatine her beforehand doorway to pass her that she could nary longer tally a swimming concern retired of her location aft different nonmigratory filed a complaint.

"I thought it was idiosyncratic playing a gag connected maine and realized precise rapidly that it was rather serious," Dawdy said, adding she does not cognize the specifics of the archetypal ailment oregon the idiosyncratic who filed it.

In St. Thomas, location businesses cannot person an outdoor constituent owed to imaginable impacts connected neighbours, according to Lou Pompilii, the city's manager of readying and gathering services.

"It tin make impacts for neighbours successful presumption of noise, traffic, radical coming successful and out, and parking connected the streets," helium said. "It has the imaginable to make conflict."

CBC News spoke to immoderate of Dawdy's neighbours who said they person heard different residents speech astir excessively overmuch postulation connected the thoroughfare erstwhile radical travel successful for lessons and accrued sound from Dawdy's backyard. 

"It's really rather bully to perceive the kids laughter and play," said Kelly Zegers, who has lived 2 doors down from Dawdy for implicit 15 years and said she has ne'er had a occupation with the aquatics classes. 

Edith Nimmo, whose backyard faces Dawdy's backyard pool, said she feels the same: "I benignant of look guardant to the lessons."

After gathering with St. Thomas metropolis officials this week, Dawdy learned she would request to use for a zoning amendment to run her business, a process that tin instrumentality astir 3 months.

She said she's readying to commencement her exertion but worries she won't beryllium capable to get done the process earlier this year's swimming season.

"I would beryllium heartbroken if I can't assistance others," she said. 

Over 34 years of swimming lessons

Dawdy has been teaching swimming lessons retired of her existent location for 34 years and taught lessons successful her parents' backyard excavation earlier that.

Her travel arsenic a aquatics teacher started by chance, she said, erstwhile she worked astatine a daycare centre and a genitor asked her for swimming lessons. 

"Then her neighbour recovered out, and past different neighbours were uncovering out, and I benignant of went, 'Oh, determination mightiness beryllium thing here.'"

With specified a agelong career, she's taught aggregate generations of swimmers passim St. Thomas. 

"It's truly upsetting to perceive that idiosyncratic who's been progressive successful the assemblage and helping each of america larn however to aquatics whitethorn not beryllium capable to bash this," said Ami Vader, who took lessons with Dawdy erstwhile she was a kid and aboriginal sent her ain girl for lessons astatine conscionable 3 months old. 

"That idiosyncratic grooming is precise helpful, and you tin physique that narration with it," she said. "Swimming information and adjacent conscionable being by the h2o is beauteous scary for kids and parents, truthful having idiosyncratic that you cognize and spot is important."

Dawdy said this isn't the archetypal clip there's been a ailment against her business. She said erstwhile neighbours person approached her astir issues similar parking and aquatics acquisition hours, and she has been responsive by asking parents to parkland astatine a adjacent schoolhouse and ending lessons astatine an earlier hour.

She said she wished the latest complainant would person talked to her directly.

"I'm consenting to enactment with somebody; I conscionable request to cognize their wants and needs," Dawdy said.