LOWER MERION — In the hopes of making it easier to understand, Lower Merion officials are considering making some changes to its ordinance regulating dogs in parks.
Donna Heller, director of parks and recreation for Lower Merion, spoke about the proposed changes at a recent committee meeting.
“Right now, we have a very complicated ordinance with different areas where dogs are permitted and not permitted in parks,” Heller said. “It’s hard to enforce, and it’s hard for residents to understand when they’re breaking the rules if they haven’t entered a park near a regulation sign. So the proposed ordinance would read, ‘allow dogs on leash no longer than six feet in length in all township parks but prohibit dogs from being within 15 feet of playgrounds athletic fields and courts unless a fence is creating a physical separation.’”
Heller said the proposed regulation changes would come back to a future parks and recreation committee meeting after they get input from the commissioners.
The township’s off-lease program is separate and not part of this proposed change.
Under the township’s current ordinance, people are prohibited from bringing any animal other than service dogs into a park or playground, with some exceptions where dogs on-leash are permitted.
“While there isn’t a specific ‘dog ownership explosion’ event, the pandemic saw a surge in pet adoptions, as well as residents working from home which has increased the number of residents visiting Township Parks with their canine companions. The current ordinance regarding where dogs are allowed is difficult for residents to follow. Unless they enter a Park near a ‘Park Rules and Regulations’ sign many are unaware of posted dog restrictions,” according to a staff memo to the commissioners.
The issue briefing to the board of commissioners listed several inquiries from residents around the enforcement of the ordinance on both sides and requests to change the ordinance to expand the areas where dogs are allowed on leashes. Some examples are:
Wynnewood Valley Park Wynnewood Civic has requested a limited area to be accessible to dogs on the leash. A Wynnewood Resident expressed concerns about dog owners in the playground area. The Park Friends group has expressed concerns about dogs impacting vegetation and wildlife.
South Ardmore Park Residents have requested the use of walking paths for dogs on leashes since the neighborhood has no sidewalks. A few residents have expressed concerns about dog owners allowing dogs off-leash on the playing fields.
Shortridge Park Shortridge Civic has requested that the entire park be accessible to dogs on the leash. A Shortridge resident has expressed concerns about dogs off-leash in the park.
General Wayne A request has been made to allow dogs to walk on leash on the interior walking paths. A request has been made to allow dogs off-leash during morning hours in the field area along Maplewood Ave.
Matt Gold, president of the Shortridge Civic Association, said their civic supports the change.
“In recent meetings, we have heard only favorable feedback in response to opening the entire park to the presence of leashed dogs,” Gold said. “In fact, one neighbor who came to our meeting and has a child who is afraid of dogs spoke in favor of it, saying, “I think there should be leashed dogs, and I want my son to kind of come and see that the dogs are nice and don’t harm him.’ So we have our – the members – the leadership of our civic association has been speaking about this in meetings. We’ve been talking to neighbors and really don’t see any reason not to adopt a kind of, simpler and more rational ordinance that would allow leash dogs to be a walk throughout Shortridge Park. I think the larger changes in the ordinance make sense as well.”
