Kincardine council has voted against closing the North and South Piers throughout the winter months.
The suggestion was not raised by the Pier Safety Ad hoc Committee, but rather municipal staff, who have health and safety concerns about being able to access the lifesaving equipment for inspection, repair or replacement over the winter.
Councillor Rory Cavanaugh said it would be difficult to actually put up a barrier that people won't just go around.
"I don't support closing the piers... I also feel that it is a mistake for council to start trying to close things when we have no way of enforcing it," he said. "We could put up some parking barricades but I guarantee the wind will blow them down or people will circumvent them."
Staff said they could work on a more permanent gating system for the piers if council had a desire to close the piers annually, but the desire was not there.
Director of Community Services Jayne Jagelewski said if the motion was defeated, work on the pier would still be scaled back.
"The level of service will be that we will have the signage depicting what has been recommended by our legal team," she told council. "We will not be sending staff out to do any requirements on the piers at all throughout the course of the winter. After such time we will start our bi-monthly inspections and in the summer we do weekly inspections."
The motion was defeated 7-2.