Council confusion: The leash law saga continues

Three statements — notably, none of them from members of the city council — best illustrated the difficulties residents (both dog-loving and not) have had for at least four years when it comes to the issue of off-leash dogs in public parks.

The first one: “The area we have most of the human conflicts between dog people and non-dog people is at Pratt Field,” said Boulder City Police Chief Tim Shea. “That is where most of them occur. Up to and including one just recently, where the person had to punctuate his opinion with his pistol.”

It illustrates how divided and passionate both sides are in this argument. While, in the past, public comment on the issue has pretty heavily favored those supporting a tighter and actually enforceable law, at Tuesday’s meeting, those speaking in public comment leaned more toward the side of “don’t change anything.”

One of those commentors who spoke both at the beginning and end of the meeting, which means she sat through the entire four-and-a-half-hour meeting, seemed to sum up what actually happened on the issue.

“What I heard tonight was a lot of confusion,” said Jan Hubbard. “We seem to start with one thing, circle back and then everyone got confused on what we’re talking about,” she said.

The last quote actually came at a meeting some months ago where Mayor Joe Hardy quipped, “I don’t like people to be mad at me.”

And there you have it.

After being told multiple times by both their police chief and the animal control supervisor, who retired unexpectedly at least partially over this issue, the current law in Boulder City is unenforceable. But, because whatever step they take is going to anger about half of the town’s residents, they have been unable to decide on a solution.

Up until about 20 years ago, the law in Boulder City was the same as laws in 99% of jurisdictions in the U.S. —if you have your dog out on public property that includes streets and parks, they had to be on a leash. But, according to multiple sources, former Parks and Recreation Director Roger Hall pushed through a change in the law at the behest of a small group of dog owners who wanted to have their animals off leash in public parks — specifically in Wilbur Square which many locals still refer to as Government Park. The law, which stands to this day, says dogs must be on a leash unless they are under the supervision and direct voice control of an owner or trainer.

Back in 2021, former mayor Kiernan McManus brought forward a motion to remove the “voice control exception,” which was voted down, including by current Councilwoman Sherri Jorgensen.

Then, last year, after an incident in which Hardy and his wife, Jill, were accosted by an off-leash dog in Veterans Memorial Park, the council directed staff to draft a new leash law without the voice-control exception, a direction that Jorgensen supported saying that she had opposed changing the law in the past but “I think that in Boulder City these days there are more dogs than there are children.”

But when the staff came back with the new draft ordinance, Jorgensen changed her mind along with Mayor Hardy leaving only Councilman Steve Walton holding his ground. Staff was directed to come back at a later date with options for off-leash “recreation” beyond Boulder City’s current two fenced-in and off-leash dog parks.

That later date was Tuesday night. What did the council decide? Hard to say. The discussion went on for more than an hour and the direction appeared to change at least a half-dozen times in that period.

Julie Calloway, the current Parks and Recreation director, presented options with varying costs.

“Staff considered three options for additional space, including constructing an additional fenced-in dog park, establishing off-leash hours at parks and allowing off-leash activity in the desert or open space adjacent to Boulder City,” she began.

“A fenced-in dog park would eliminate unwanted dog interaction with the public,” she continued. “However, there would be an initial financial investment and annual maintenance expenses for the installation of a fence. Also, converting an existing park to a dog park would restrict the park’s usage to dog activity only. Another option would be to allow off-leash hours at an existing park or parks. This would reduce unwanted public and dog interaction while still providing a space for dog activities during the established off-leash hours. Allowing for dogs off-leash within the desert would be the easiest option to implement.”

The issue is far from settled. Staff was given “direction” that any objective observer would have to characterize as at least somewhat confusing. And given the history, there is no guarantee that a draft solution, whenever it actually comes, will be agreed upon.

North Escalante Park was to be a “designated dog park but on-leash” apparently as kind of a training ground for people who want their dogs off-leash in Wilbur Square. Desert areas, with the exception of designated hiking trails and the conservation area, would be off-leash available all the time along with Bayview and Wilbur Square, plus Pratt Field (despite the pleas of Shea) until 3 p.m. And maybe parts of Veterans Memorial.