Social Nudity at a textile resort

[Fun2Bnude]

I'm relatively new to this forum, but have been impressed by the depth of knowledge and experience shown by many of the members. I'm not sure if this is the proper place for this post, but my concerns are of a legal nature.
Please bear with me as I explain my situation. I look forward to your thoughtful responses.

I own a textile resort with my wife and children. It is mainly dedicated to fishermen and their families. We are puting in a swimming pool next year and we would like to dedicate some of the time the pool is open to skinny dipping and other social nude activities. We have for the last few years spent some time with several of our guests skinny dipping in the lake, nude pontoon cruises, nude fishing trips and after hours nude time in our personal hot tub.

Here is the question:

If we were to publish as part of our pool rules the following statement, what is your opinion of how it would be received? And do you think that we could run into any legal trouble?

"9pm - 12am Adults and children 16 or older accompanied by a parent. Skinny dipping permitted - appropriate behavior expected."

Your thoughts would be much appreciated as we move forward with our endeavor.

[nudeM]

Have you asked your members what they thought about the situation? Also, if you are within city limits, then you may want to check with the local laws/codes that you may have to abide by. Sounds like you have a real winner on your hands. Lots of luck. Let us know how things turn out.

[Fun2Bnude]

Let me clarify a little. Our resort is consumer based, not member based.

[Bare in the Desert]

Originally posted by Fun2Bnude:
I'm relatively new to this forum, but have been impressed by the depth of knowledge and experience shown by many of the members. I'm not sure if this is the proper place for this post, but my concerns are of a legal nature.
Please bear with me as I explain my situation. I look forward to your thoughtful responses.

I own a textile resort with my wife and children. It is mainly dedicated to fishermen and their families. We are puting in a swimming pool next year and we would like to dedicate some of the time the pool is open to skinny dipping and other social nude activities. We have for the last few years spent some time with several of our guests skinny dipping in the lake, nude pontoon cruises, nude fishing trips and after hours nude time in our personal hot tub.

Here is the question:

If we were to publish as part of our pool rules the following statement, what is your opinion of how it would be received? And do you think that we could run into any legal trouble?

"9pm - 12am Adults and children 16 or older accompanied by a parent. Skinny dipping permitted - appropriate behavior expected."

Your thoughts would be much appreciated as we move forward with our endeavor.

I think your sign works, maybe put "skinny dipping" in big, bold letters so there is no mistake. And like nudeM said, just check with the local codes and laws. I think its a great idea.

[Pete Knight]

I think its an excellent idea, it does more to promote nudism that most I've seen lately, and I bet most of the participants to date don't even consider themselves to be nudists, they just like skinny dipping.

Pete Knight

[tinner666]

Being amember at a Family Nude resort,WTR, I believe you should remove the age qualifier.
If there is a curfew at the park for children, like the one at WTR, I would note that kids under age '?' go to their sites, bed, or whatever is normal. It might give the sense that something is up. Not to mention that the much younger children will be less reluctant to join in, as opposed to teenagers. Make it a 'Family'Friendly' event.
As a family resort, you have members with small children who will not be able to join you.
At a nudist resort, there are no age restrictions, just regulations about parents or responsible adults attending. And no inappropiate behavior.

[shãybare]

I believe you have a good idea although I would suggest you monitor it closely. Putting the sign up can also attract undesirables.

Especially since there will be teens and perhaps younger children there, there should be someone to make sure "romance" is kept under control

[nunne]

Good replies from the above. Just my opinion, but I think rather than saying "skinnydipping", I would say that bathing suits are optional. I would especially begin that way to let people get used to it. I find that if suits are optional, almost all opt not to wear them.

[walter05]

Perhaps the least challenging way to say it would be as follows:

Pool open 24 hours a day. Appropriate swimwear required from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.

[DenitaLC]

If I were staying at your resort, I would prefer some of the clothing optional hours be during the day so I could enjoy working on a line free tan.

Just my .02 worth

[NakedGary]

Your not there yet, but I would make sure that you protect your liability by posting that a life guard is not on duty, and that all swim at your own risk.

I'm with DenitaLC who would want to skinny dip in the dark and probably cool nights of Northern MN? I would prefer the term Clothing Optional.

Will this resort be lighted at night?

Will this pool area be visible from public view or the street? Will this pool area be fenced, and have controlled access?

IF this is a business for profit clothing optional could change the intended use and business license to another category. It's best to completely check all city, county, and local codes, before implementing a clothing optional plan.

[Fun2Bnude]

Thanks for all the replies so far. A little more clarification of our intent is probably in order now.

We enjoy being clothes free when we can. However, our business and our resort will probably remain a textile resort as it has been for the last 80+ years. What we are trying to do is to offer a little something extra for those who may not know they are naturists but could find out after an evening dip in the pool.

NakedGary: Appreciate all your advice. All local codes for a public swimming pool will be in place. i.e. signage, fences etc.
With the exception of the people that are staying in the cabins on the property, we are well out of the view of the public as we are in the middle of a national forest. We don't necessarily have a "clothing optional plan" we just would like to have a few hours a day where people can swim as they were meant to if they so choose. Having hours during the day will probably not be an option due to the amount of textile traffic. We will not be advertising 'clothing optional' anywhere except in the cabins with the pool hours and regulations.

Just wanted to add some more information as we receive input from all of you. Hopefully, we can continue this thread for a while and generate some more ideas. It's really appreciated and will help us move forward.

[Ken Palmer]

Hey NakedGary. I agree with you on the deal regarding the business liscense. I never even thought of that myself. Also, you are right to suggest that he check all the city,county, and local codes before going clothing-optional as they may not be welcolming to the idea. And there was also the mention of "undesirables" possibly coming into the picture. This has always been a concern when the word gets out about clothing-optional or flatout nudist venues evolving. I also didn't think about the area being lighted at night and whether it was visible from a roadway or the public in general. It really sounds like you have either been schooled or trained in this area unless I am wrong. Anyhow, excellent work!

Ken Palmer

Originally posted by NakedGary:
Your not there yet, but I would make sure that you protect your liability by posting that a life guard is not on duty, and that all swim at your own risk.

I'm with DenitaLC who would want to skinny dip in the dark and probably cool nights of Northern MN? I would prefer the term Clothing Optional.

Will this resort be lighted at night?

Will this pool area be visible from public view or the street? Will this pool area be fenced, and have controlled access?

IF this is a business for profit clothing optional could change the intended use and business license to another category. It's best to completely check all city, county, and local codes, before implementing a clothing optional plan.

[John P]

This is likely to lead to conflicts:
Appropriate swimwear required from 6:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M.

The swimwear I swim in is entirely appropriate--always fits right, shold last as long as I do, doesn't need to be hung up to dry, and I'm always wearing it under my clothes (when I wear clothes). But still I think others might call it inappropriate at times. They're unreasonable people, but there are a lot of them.

I'm dead against exluding children. It suggests (as Tinner said) that there's something going on that children need to be kept away from. Well, is there? Either this is going to be a sexual thing or it's not, and it's your place and if you say it's OK, then everyone can participate. In fact, apart from nobody being able to get an all-over tan on their "appropriate swimsuits", how do the kids get to swim nude if it's only allowed late at night? That's all backwards.

One thing I saw at a small resort in Maine was a fence set up at the end of a dock where there was a ladder down to the water. I think it was so that people could get in and out of the water nude. That might be a better approach--set up a fenced "clothing optional area" rather than have "clothing optional hours". Whether you'd find the wrong people coming to the resort, or even the regular customers starting to do stupid things, I just don't know. It seems as if the public in general has poor expectations about what mixed-gender nudity is like, but maybe with the Scandanavian tradition in Minnesota you'd be more likely to succeed? I'd like to believe that this would work.

[tinner666]

I thought of something else we take for granted at any AANR family resort:
When you check into one of those resorts, your ID is not only used to check you in, it is also used for a background check for any sex offensers. We members take it for granted that the person seated next to us isn't on any 'black' list. You might find this to be a major stumbling block to ask all your regulars to submit to a background check. Except for parents who will appreciate your concern for them and their children's safety. Contact AANR for more info on how to handle it. Eric S. would be a good source of info.