oceanfront park- - News - The Coastal Star2024-03-29T09:28:37Zhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/feed/tag/oceanfront+park-Boynton Beach/Ocean Ridge: Boynton parks board rejects dog beachhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/boynton-beach-ocean-ridge-boynton-parks-board-rejects-dog-beach2018-04-04T17:33:47.000Z2018-04-04T17:33:47.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong></p>
<p>Dogs won’t frolic at Oceanfront Park anytime soon.<br /> That’s the recommendation the Boynton Beach Recreation & Parks Board made in late March.<br /> Members voted 5-1 after reviewing a residents’ survey where nearly 70 percent were for allowing dogs on the beach during select days and hours. About 56 percent of the survey takers wanted the dogs to be leashed. Slightly more than 1,100 people responded to the unscientific survey posted on the city’s website. <br /> “Our beach is not the right place to have it,” said Charles Kanter, a board member who made the motion despite the poll result. He said the short length of the beach at 960 feet does not provide enough space for a dog park. <br /> Board member Christina Johnson was for allowing dogs at Oceanfront Park. “Not that many residents would buy the permits,” she said. <br /> The City Commission will discuss the issue on April 20. <br /> Commissioner Joe Casello raised the topic last August after taking his cairn terrier, Charlie, to the dog beach in Jupiter. “He really loves it,” Casello said. <br /> At Jupiter’s Dog Beach, no permits are required for the 2.5-mile stretch of beach. Lately, the town’s vice mayor has talked about decreasing the beach portion where dogs are allowed. <br /> In December, Boynton Beach Mayor Steven Grant asked the parks board to poll residents about allowing dogs on the beach at Oceanfront Park. <br /> The park, while owned by Boynton Beach, sits within the town of Ocean Ridge. That arrangement led to an October meeting between Boynton Beach city staffers and their Ocean Ridge counterparts. The message from Ocean Ridge was clear: Its laws do not allow animals on the public beach. Private beach owners, though, could allow dogs.<br /> Boynton Beach staff delivered that message in December. Even so, Casello wanted to proceed with creating a dog beach.<br /> At the start of the parks board’s discussion, Recreation & Parks Director Wally Majors proposed allowing dogs at Oceanfront Park on three days, Fridays through Sundays, for a limited time each morning and evening. <br />The morning time would be 7 to 8:30, Majors said. In the evenings from November to March, the hours would be 4:30 to 6, and in the off-season from April to October, the hours could be 5 to 8, he said.<br /> Two board members wanted to know what would happen to the owners who kept their dogs on the beach longer. Would they be fined? That’s to be decided, Majors said.<br /> Monitoring the dog beach at Oceanfront Park would cost between $15,000 and $20,000. The amount would cover hiring a park ranger to enforce the boundaries and time limits and then for a maintenance crew to clean the beach, Majors said.<br /> He didn’t think volunteers could be counted on to do the work, although volunteers run the dog beach in Jupiter. <br /> Majors also wanted people to buy permits to ensure the dogs are up to date on shots. <br /> Asked whether they would be willing to buy a permit, 430 survey takers, or slightly more than 66 percent, said yes and 225 said no. <br />But 475 people skipped the question. Their lack of response created uncertainty about how many people would buy the permit.</p></div>Ocean Ridge/Boynton Beach: Boynton explores oceanfront dog parkhttps://thecoastalstar.com/profiles/blogs/ocean-ridge-boynton-beach-boynton-explores-oceanfront-dog-park2018-01-03T19:02:31.000Z2018-01-03T19:02:31.000ZThe Coastal Starhttps://thecoastalstar.com/members/TheCoastalStar<div><p><strong>By Jane Smith</strong><br /> <br />Should dogs be allowed on the beach at Oceanfront Park?<br /> In early December, Boynton Beach Mayor Steven Grant suggested residents answer that question in an online survey. Then, city leaders would learn whether their residents want to push forward with creating a stretch of beach for dogs.<br /> Grant, a dog owner, is in favor of creating a dog beach with limited hours and that uses a permit system to ensure the dogs are current on their shots. He suggests that Boynton Beach residents pay less than nonresidents. <br /> But creating the dog beach means working with Ocean Ridge. <br /> While Boynton Beach owns the beach, it is in the town of Ocean Ridge and subject to its ordinances. Right now, Ocean Ridge does not allow animals, including dogs on leashes, on the public beach. Owners of private beaches can allow dogs on their beaches.<br /> Palm Beach County bans dogs from all of its beaches. Ocean Ridge Hammock Park, directly north of Oceanfront Park, is owned by the county.<br /> Commissioner Joe Casello first raised the idea of the dog beach back in August.<br /> Then, in November, Boynton Beach staffers met with their counterparts in Ocean Ridge to discuss the idea of allowing dogs at Oceanfront Park. <br /> “It seemed clear from discussions with [Ocean Ridge] representatives that the town is firm on enforcing its regulations,” according to a Boynton Beach staff memo. Boynton Beach city staff recommended against pursuing the dog beach location.<br /> Even so, Casello insisted that Boynton Beach staff move forward with the dog beach plan. <br /> “It’s our beach,” said Vice Mayor Justin Katz. “We own it, we maintain it.” He favors a trial period for the dog beach.<br /> Four residents spoke at the Dec. 5 meeting. They all were against it. <br /> “Even a park ranger will not be able to find the little turds,” longtime Boynton Beach resident Manny Gutierrez said. <br /> Casello also wondered why the Ocean Ridge town manager did not come to the Boynton Beach City Commission meeting to address the town’s concerns.<br /> Jamie Titcomb was invited, but did not plan to attend “a personal opinion session,” said Ocean Ridge Police Chief Hal Hutchins, the town’s designated spokesman for issues regarding Oceanfront Park. His department patrols the beachfront park through an agreement with Boynton Beach. <br /> “We need to see a concrete proposal, other than saying, ‘we want to have dogs on the beach,’ ” Hutchins said. At that point Ocean Ridge would have a workshop to discuss the proposal, he said.<br /> Mayor Grant asked that his city’s parks and recreation advisory board create and post the dog beach survey on the city’s website, look at what other cities are doing when they allow dogs on their beaches and come back with options for the commission to select.<br />Because the advisory board meets monthly, the City Commission might not see the survey results for a few months, Grant said.<br /> Wally Majors, parks and recreation director, said a dog beach would be limited by the size of the city’s slice of oceanfront — 960 feet. <br /> “It’s a small area,” he said at the Dec. 5 commission meeting. “We would have to hire a park ranger to enforce the limits and then someone to clean up after the dogs.”<br /> He agreed that the permit money could be used to offset the cost of the park ranger and that most dog owners would pick up after their dogs.<br />Commissioner Christina Romelus wanted to let the public decide about creating a dog beach at Oceanfront Park. But Commissioner Mack McCray was against creating a dog beach because of the increased cost. The city does not have park rangers and would have to hire them, he said.</p></div>