Update on proposed dog ban at Singing Beach
According to an article in the Gloucester Daily Times, the Singing Beach Committee of the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea voted on Monday not to recommend passage of the article at Town Meeting that would ban dogs year-round at the beach ("Committee pans dog ban at Singing Beach," by Patrick Anderson).
That's the good news. The bad news is that
Town Selectmen last week voted not to issue a recommendation on the article in the printed warrant. They can still vote to offer recommendations before Town Meeting.
The proposed year-round ban on dogs at Singing Beach is unneighborly. The only time that some people visit the beach is during the off-season when we can enjoy the beach together with our dogs. A year-round dog ban would prevent some residents from ever having an opportunity to enjoy Singing Beach.
If you live in Manchester-by-the-Sea or if you know anyone who does, please (have them) contact the Board of Selectmen and ask them to issue a recommendation against the unneighborly proposal on the Town Warrant that would ban dogs year round at Singing Beach. Contact the Board of Selectmen c/o Wayne Melville,Town Administrator, Town Hall, 10 Central Street, Manchester, MA 01944.
UPDATE 17 March 2008: Thanks to Traildogs for posting that the Board of Selectmen met on Monday, March 3 and decided to wait to make a recommendation on the article that would extend the existing summer prohibition of dogs on Singing Beach year round. The Gloucester Daily Times reports that the Board
decided to issue their recommendation on the article the day of Town Meeting because of lingering questions about whether the article needs to reference the town's canine bylaw and to give Thorne a chance to have her say.
Susan Thorne, chairwoman of the Board, was out of town at the time. "Thorne" according to the article, "was one of the residents who signed the petition to place the dog ban on the warrant" ("Selectmen take wait-and-see approach," by Patrick Anderson).
UPDATE 21 March 2008:The 2008 Annual Town Warrant for the Town of Manchester-by-the-Sea is now online on the Town website. The unneighborly article that would ban dogs at Singing Beach is Article 30:
To see if the Town will vote to ban dogs from Singing Beach year round, or take any other action relative thereto.
Per petition of Patricia Morley, et al