By Nicole Goodhue
Boyd
Dogs
play on Singing Beach.
Town Meeting vote could ban dogs
at Singing Beach
By Terry Doyle/tdoyle@cnc.com
Fri Mar 14, 2008, 10:53 AM EDT
Manchester -
Manchester
- It is only 22 words long,
but it may as well be 1,000,000. Compared to some of the other articles on
Manchester’s annual Town Meeting warrant, Article 30 is brief.
It reads, “To see if the Town will
vote to ban dogs from Singing Beach year round, or take any other action
relative thereto.”
Wait, what? No dogs on Singing
Beach? Not even during the off-season?
Such could be the case if the
citizens of Manchester vote in favor of ratifying Article 30 at Town Meeting on
Monday, April 7.
The current rules bar dogs from
Singing Beach from May 1 to Oct. 1.
Patricia Morley, the water
accounts administrator with Department of Public Works, petitioned to get the
article on the warrant.
“I do not think dogs belong on
the beach,” she said. “It is not a good situation, having a whole bunch of dogs
running loose.”
Morley said dogs on the beach
create a safety hazard for small children who may be playing on the beach.
Morley also reasoned that dogs
are currently banned from town parks and playgrounds, so why not ban them from
the beach as well?
“It becomes an issue, a battle,”
she said. “The dog walkers are not going to be happy—change is hard, but it’s
not always a bad thing.”
Local dog walkers
disagreed.
“It’s a very nice place to come,”
said Mike Williams, a Magnolia resident. “There is a community of people that
come here. (My dog) likes to come here and just roll around in the water…It’s
not really warm enough to come to the beach and lounge, so it’s not as if we’re
disrupting anything.”
Manchester resident Marcia
Musgrave said “It would be a shame if they banned dogs from the beach year
round. I don’t really understand it. There are not many people down here
sunning themselves during the off-season.
“I don’t see how it’s a
disturbance,” said Musgrave. “I’ve never seen a single problem. It’s neutral
territory for dogs. I don’t see dogs breaking out into fights or eating
children.”
Morley said other Manchester
residents echo her opinion and that the decision ultimately rests in their
hands.
“The people have to make their
own choice,” she said. “It’s really up to them in the end, what they want.”
Town Meeting will be Monday,
April 7 at 7 p.m. at Manchester Memorial School.