Residents push for dog-friendly policies in Bayfront Park

Just after sunrise Monday, a group of dog owners met at Bayfront Park and let their furry friends run free.

For them, Bayfront Park offers a rare opportunity to let their pets off a leash in a large, open space. On this foggy December morning, about a half-dozen dogs reveled in the chance to chase squirrels and roam untethered near the water.

“We love this park — it’s the most beautiful park,” said Fred Costin, who has been coming to the park for six years with his dog Buddy. “The green space in Sarasota has disappeared so fast, and this park is fantastic.”

About a month ago, something shook this community: An officer issued a ticket to one of the dog owners for having the animal off a leash.

That’s because dogs aren’t actually allowed off leashes in Bayfront Park. Although dogs are allowed off a leash in most city parks, that leash requirement also applies in three other large city parks: Payne Park, Arlington Park and Gillespie Park.

After the citation, a few of the dog walkers stopped going to Bayfront Park in the mornings. The rest are determined to change the rules. Last month, Joan Thompson sent an email to Deputy City Manager Marlon Brown, asking for new regulations that would let her keep her cairn terrier, Dewey, off the leash.

She understands other people use the park, and having dogs unleashed 24/7 might invite problems. But she thinks there’s a middle ground. In her email, Thompson suggested allowing dogs off leash from 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. Sunday through Friday.

She’s drafted a petition to gather support for her proposal, which the City Commission plans to discuss next month. The dog owners who gather in Bayfront Park say leaving the leash behind provides significant benefits.

“They’re much less aggressive off leash,” Thompson said. “They get to run and use their energy. Otherwise, they might as well just walk in the neighborhood.”

Obedience Training

The dog-walking group may have chosen an inopportune moment to attempt to inject more nuances into the city’s pet rules.

In July, the city received an email from resident Dan Kriwitsky that expressed concern about dogs owners not picking up waste on Lido Beach. Kriwitsky spoke to a Sarasota Police Department sergeant who said there was confusion among city law enforcement about the dog ordinances.

City Attorney Robert Fournier acknowledged the regulations can be hard to navigate. In addition to the leash rules for individual parks, dogs actually aren’t allowed at any parks on Lido Key.

In 2007, the city adopted the county’s animal control code, which prohibited the presence of dogs off leash in public parks. At the time, city officials didn’t want to adhere to that same standard, which has led to the regulations currently in place.

“The city ordinances do get a little confusing,” Fournier said. 

The City Commission also wants to discuss how it can make enforcement easier. If the city wants to remain friendlier to dogs — and accommodate residents like those who let their pets run free in Bayfront Park — that might be challenging.

“There may not be a way they can simplify it with some leash, some non-leash and some pet-free areas,” Fournier said. “It does mean, though, the police have to bear the burden of applying different regulations.”

The bayfront group says giving dog walkers more freedom is worth the challenge. Right now, they don’t run into any issues when they let their dogs off the leash in the early morning, when the park is relatively empty.

If more people started letting their dogs off leash, they were optimistic the pets would be just as well behaved — though they weren’t certain how bad dogs could be kept in check.

“We would hope owners of dogs that are aggressive or otherwise unsociable would not take advantage of this thing we’re trying to get passed,” said Mary Nolan. “That would definitely ruin it for everybody.”

The dog walkers moved to Sarasota from areas in which the leash laws were more relaxed. Thompson, for example, was allowed to take her dog on the beach in Dewey Beach, Del., before 9 a.m.

They believe similar regulations in Sarasota would help create a more dog-friendly community. All of the dog owners said the “paw parks” at Arlington and 17th Street parks don’t give the dogs the same opportunity to stretch their legs as Bayfront Park does.

That’s why, even as the city sorts out its pet policies, the dog owners keep coming back to the bayfront.

“They like to see the squirrels, and we like to see the beauty,” Costin said. “It’s good for all of us.”