By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
There are howls of joy in Sea Isle City.
Dogs are allowed back on most of the city’s beaches, giving them a gigantic sandy playground to romp on until May 1.
Mayor Leonard Desiderio announced during Tuesday’s City Council meeting that the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has loosened restrictions that banned dogs from Sea Isle’s beaches starting March 15.
“I’m grateful to the DEP for exercising common sense in easing the restrictions on pets for the majority of our beaches, to allow them to continue to use that environment until May 1,” Desiderio said in a statement.
Dogs normally are banned from the beaches from March 15 to Sept. 30 to prevent them from damaging the sandy nesting areas of threatened or endangered migratory shorebirds as well as harming environmentally sensitive plants.
Those restrictions are part of the city’s responsibility to maintain the beaches in agreement with the DEP and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
However, discussions last week between city officials and the environmental agencies produced an amended agreement in which dogs will be allowed on most beaches from Oct. 1 to May 1, Desiderio said.
Dogs are permitted on the beaches between 20th and 93rd streets until May 1.
The beaches between First and 20th streets and south of 93rd Street are considered protected and dogs will not be allowed in those areas after March 15.
“Every year, we discuss these matters with the environmental agencies, and try to strike a balance between the recreational use of the beach by our residents and visitors, and the wildlife that also calls the beach its home,” Desiderio said in his statement.
“This is not always an easy or popular situation, but the fact is that we are the chief stewards of our beaches; and the fact is that we also receive millions of dollars in assistance from our state and federal partners to help pay for periodic re-nourishment of our beaches,” he added.
Dogs are prohibited on the beaches during Sea Isle’s busy spring and summer tourism season. But dog owners are well aware that the beaches open up to canines during the quieter off-season months.
Owners are required to keep their dogs on leashes and clean up their pets’ messes when they are on the beach.
“Please remember that children play along our shoreline throughout the year and stepping in a dog’s fecal matter can ruin a day at the beach,” City Council said in a statement last fall when dogs were allowed back on the beaches for the off-season starting in October.
At one time, dogs were allowed on Sea Isle’s beaches until May 1, but the date was changed to March 15 two or three years ago, city spokeswoman Katherine Custer said.
SeaIsleNews.com published a story on March 15 about dogs being banned from the beach starting that day. The story produced nearly 200 comments on (10) Sea Isle News | Facebook, most of them from disappointed dog owners who thought that March 15 was far too early for the ban to take effect.
“May 1st is quite acceptable because of the busier Spring and definite Summer months but really? March 15th? You have to be kidding!” wrote local property owner Eileen Rennard while urging city officials to extend the date to May 1.
In another Facebook post, Sea Isle resident Denise Battelini wrote that she was “very disappointed” when the March 15 ban was first announced.
“So sad, I walk my dog several times a week in the off season. I always pick up after him and he is always leashed. This has always been an off-season activity both my pet and I have enjoyed,” Battelini said.
Some Facebook posters complained that irresponsible dog owners were not cleaning up the messes.
“I was there this past weekend. The amount of dog poop on the sidewalks, promenade and beach was unbelievable. Every other word out of my mouth to the group was, ‘watch the crap,’” Michael Matyjasik wrote.
In the meantime, Sea Isle is working on plans for an area where dogs would be able to play year-round.
City officials are discussing the possibility of building a dog park in the north end of town between Fifth and Eighth streets, an area now used as a parking lot. Construction would likely start in 2021 or 2022, City Business Administrator George Savastano said in an earlier interview.
In its new five-year capital plan for 2021-2025, Sea Isle has proposed spending $200,000 in 2021 for the dog park. The capital plan, though, is considered a broad blueprint of municipal projects that may be built within a five-year period.
