Committee pans dog ban at Singing Beach

By Patrick Anderson
Staff writer

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MANCHESTER — A proposed year-round ban of dogs from Singing Beach will have to overcome the opposition of the Singing Beach Committee, which voted last night not to recommend passage of the article at Town Meeting in April.

The ban, which would prohibit dogs of all shapes and sizes from walking on Singing Beach, was placed on this year's annual Town Meeting warrant by a citizen petition. Currently, dogs are not allowed on the beach between May and October.

The Singing Beach Committee has considered a variety of rules changes in recent years, including eliminating parking for nonresidents, but Vice Chairman Paul Barclay said yesterday that even committee members still looking to make changes at the beach were not ready to support a blanket dog ban.

"Even the members that want change are not ready for this," Barclay said. "The way it was worded didn't leave us any room for compromise. Some members wanted to look at extending the ban a few days, but we didn't feel the article gave us that option."

Barclay, a dog owner and early opponent of the ban, has argued that without dog owners, the beach would be largely deserted during the winter.

Proponents of the dog ban article say the high number of dogs using the beach during the offseason creates an unsanitary environment and makes residents without dogs wary of visiting the beach.

The lead sponsor of the article, Beach Street resident Patricia Morley, said last month that visitors to the beach have been harassed by uncontrolled dogs running off leash.

Selectmen Chairwoman Susan Thorne, who also signed the petition, has not announced yet whether she will support the article at Town Meeting.

Selectmen last week voted not to issue a recommendation on the article in the printed warrant. They can still vote to offer recommendations before Town Meeting.

Selectmen in 2006, looking to keep professional dog walkers off Singing Beach, voted to limit visitors to the beach from bringing more than one dog per person.

At the same time they voted to make the Singing Beach parking lot off-limits to nonresidents unless they paid a $25 per day fee. That move drew opposition from beach visitors both in and out of Manchester, and selectmen later carved out a 20-space nonresident parking area.

The Singing Beach Committee yesterday did not address any other beach rules or parking changes.

Barclay said he thought the beach was operating smoothly under the current conditions.

Manchester's special Town Meeting is scheduled for Monday, April ,7 at 6:45 p.m., and annual Town Meeting is scheduled that same night at 7.