Village Board Considers Leashed Dog Mandate at Beach Entrances

Dogs will be on a tighter leash — literally — if an East Hampton Village Board proposal passes.

A proposed amendment to the code would add a requirement that dogs be leashed within 500 feet of the road ends, considered the most popular areas of the beach. According to the proposal, the leash mandate allows owners to better control their dogs during encounters with other beach-goers, as well as making them more aware and better able to pick up dog waste. Leashes are defined as not being anymore than six feet long.

At its meeting on Friday, the board is expected to approve moving forward with the proposal and scheduling a public hearing on April 19, at which time interested parties will have an opportunity to lend their support or voice their opposition to the proposal.

The board took on this often divisive issue of dogs on the beach as a response to complaints about the failure of owners to pick up after their dog.

Currently, dogs are allowed to run free on any East Hampton Village beach, except between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. from the second Sunday in May through Sept. 30. Those who don't pick up after their dog may be fined $250.

In the new proposal, it states, that "although the current code provisions require dog owners to clean up after their dogs, when dogs run loose, it is more difficult for dog owners to be aware of their actions and to clean up after them. Animal waste left on the beach continues to be a frequent problem, notwithstanding the signage alerting dog owners to clean up and the availability of plastic bags for use in cleaning up."

"The Board of Trustees’ goal is to allow the beach to be shared pleasurably by dog owners, picnickers, surfers, fisherman and beach-lovers of all kinds," the proposal states. The board is trying "to strike a better balance."

The board previously discussed other possibilities, such as only allowing dogs on the beach east of Two Mile Hollow Beach and west of the westerly jetty on Georgica Beach.

If the board does in fact want to move forward, a hearing will be held on April 19 at 11 a.m.

Sara Davison, the executive director of the Animal Rescue Fund of the Hamptons, said that the proposal is more of a leash requirement than a leash law. "It's a misnomer to call it a leash law because that implies a village wide policy," she said, adding that East Hampton Town and Village don't have leash laws, whereas Southampton Village does.

Overall, Davison said she's comfortable with the proposal because she thinks it wise for dog owners to enter the beach and check out the situation first before letting their dog run lose. "I would prefer 300 feet," she said, however. "I think people feel there's a lot of other constraints on the beach and to do it at 500 feet is a hardship," she said.

What do you think of the board's proposal?