ConCom sets dog regulations
By Cheryl Lecesse/ Staff Writer
Thursday, June 9, 2005
Designated off-leash and on-leash trails and a requirement for all to pick up their dog feces are two of the dog regulations scheduled to go into effect at Mt. Misery.
The Conservation Commission adopted dog regulations for Mt. Misery at its meeting June 1. An implementation date has not yet been determined.
The adoption decision follows discussion of draft regulations at the commission's meeting May 18.
Reached by phone last week, Conservation Director Tom Gumbart said the commission cannot determine a date in which the regulations go into effect until the proper signs, trash barrels and bag dispensers are posted.
"There's a fair amount of work before we get it all lined up," he said.
The commission is scheduled to further discuss an implementation date at its next meeting, Wednesday, June 15.
Gumbart said dog walkers will be required to keep their dogs on leash on the main trail leading from the parking lot on Route 117 to the agricultural fields, in the agricultural fields, over the top of Mt. Misery and around the two ponds on the property. Walkers will also be required to leash their dogs within about 100 yards of the main parking lot, and to clean up after their dogs.
New brochures, including a map outlining which trails do not have a leash requirement, will be designed, printed and posted, Gumbart said.
"Trails that require dogs on leash will have little signs with a walker and a leashed dog," he said, saying the remaining off-leash trails leave room for dogs to roam a fairly large loop. "There's plenty of room to go explore."
The commission's decision is the culmination of debates over dog leash requirements at Mt. Misery since March, when the commission first announced its plans to implement a leash requirement for all of Mt. Misery's property. The announcement spurred outcry from area dog owners who regularly use the land, many of whom have organized to become the Friends of Mt. Misery. After a series of packed public hearings, at which residents and Mt. Misery users expressed concerns and offered suggestions, new regulations were drafted last month.
"I am really happy that they've compromised," said Barbara Peskin of South Great Road, a dog walker at Mt. Misery who has been vocal at the past public hearings, when reached by phone last week.
However, Peskin said she hopes the decision will not impede dog walkers from using Mt. Misery but it may do so to some, although she said she does not feel the commission had this intent in mind.
"I think if they had done the main trail and the fields that would be a good small step," she said, saying, if the commission designates too many trails for leashed dogs, people who have been going to Mt. Misery for years may stop going. "I think some people are going to be turned away," she said.
Peskin also said she hopes the commission remains open to Mt. Misery users for suggestions after the regulations are implemented. She said continuing communication with dog walkers who use the property will be imperative in order for the regulations to be enforced successfully.
Gumbart said the commission's decision does not prohibit anyone from using the property at any time.
"It's a compromise between a multitude of interests," he said. "Neither side is going to be completely happy and hopefully they'll understand."
"I think that the dog behavior could come more from coaching people and etiquette than from leashes," Peskin said. "It's a shame to turn the outdoors into city sidewalks if you don't have to."
Peskin added, "I just want it to be a place that you can go and enjoy the outdoors with your dog." | |
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