By Nate Jones

Staff Writer 

A former member of the Willard Beach task force, Gary Crosby said he feels like he has been “railroaded” for the past four months. 

“I think [Councilor] Claude Morgan did a good job stacking the deck,” Willard Beach resident Dan Labrie said of the task force. 

South Portland Assistant City Manager Erik Carson was expected to present the task force’s final recommendation regarding dogs on the beach to the city council Wednesday. Hiring additional enforcement personnel, new language for voice control requirements, new “on-leash” and restricted canine access areas and possible permitting fees for non-residents are among the recommendations prepared by the task force.

“I showed [the task force] the facts time and time again and they were ignored,” Crosby said. “It was extremely frustrating.” 

Crosby said he disagrees with the task force’s final statement which Labrie said is “absolutely unenforceable.” With the help of resident John Gillick, they have formed the Save Willard Beach Group, an informal organization they are hoping will give residents who feel dogs have taken over Willard Beach a voice, Labrie said. 

“People are afraid to stand up and talk,” Crosby said. “We’re hearing that a lot of people want dogs gone altogether.”

The focus of the Save Willard Beach Group would be to limit dog access to the beach to the winter months, Crosby said. According to their analysis of the current ordinance allowing dogs on the beach from 6 to 9 a.m. in the summer months and all day in the off season,  dogs are allowed access 70 percent of the year. 

The group’s goal: reduce it to 50 percent.

“We don’t think we should take the beach away from the dogs, but it should be fair,” Labrie said. “Six months on, six months off.”

Crosby and Labrie said the group would most likely have members sign a petition to encourage the six-month limit to be submitted to the city council. If the council fails to take action, he said the group could begin collecting signatures to bring the issue to a public referendum. 

“We’ll take it as far as it needs to go,” Labrie said. 

The question of allowing dogs on the beach emerged after several Willard Beach residents expressed safety and health concerns to the city council this past spring. The council agreed to form a task force to research the issue and the current ordinance has remained unaltered despite Councilor Maxine Beecher’s attempt to change the hours dogs are allowed from mornings between 6 and 9 a.m. to evening from 6 to 9 p.m. Although the council initially approved Beecher’s proposed time change, Chris Kessler, a member of the South Portland Dog Owner’s Group, later discovered the vote to be invalid due to a scheduling conflict with the city clerk’s office.

Labrie said Beecher’s attempt to change the hours was “well-intentioned” but inadequate.

“We want to be able to use the beach half of the time,” he said. “That’s it.”

Carson said he expected the council to address the issue before the general election next month, even if a final decision isn’t made until after the election.