Old Orchard Beach may tighten leash law

OLD ORCHARD BEACH —  The town is considering an ordinance change that would require dogs to be on a leash when on the beach from the beginning of April through the end of September.

The town currently limits the hours dogs are allowed on the beach in the summer to avoid prime beach hours. Dogs are not allowed on the beach between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Dogs are not allowed on Old Orchard Street, the main street in the downtown, from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

The town is proposing to add to the current ordinance that dogs must be on a leash no longer than 12 feet when on the beach from April 1 to Sept. 30. The public is invited to comment on this proposal at a public hearing at the May 18 Town Council meeting at Town Hall.

Brad Zitske, wildlife biologist with the Maine Department of Inland Wildlife and Fisheries, said in a letter to the town last year that game wardens who have patrolled the beaches were concerned about the number of unleashed dogs and the risk to piping plovers, a tiny, sand-colored shorebirds that nest on beaches. Plovers are a federally endangered species.

Earlier this year, Saco changed its ordinance to require dogs be leashed while on the beach from April 1 to September 30.

Kimbark Smith, chairman of the town’s Conservation Commission, wrote a letter to the Town Council on behalf of the Commission urging the town to consider a leash law similar to the one approved in Saco. 

“Plovers nest near the dunes but feed at the water’s edge so there is constant movement back and forth between the nests and the shorelines, especially at low tide. The lack of leash control allows dogs to roam freely and they chase the birds. This situation is a disaster waiting to happen,” wrote Smith.            

Publisher Liz Gotthelf can be reached at [email protected].