Williamstown Dog Owners to Select Board: 'Let Us Deal with It'
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Select Board on Monday was told that it should let the people who walk their dogs in the Spruces Park decide how the 114-acre town-owned park is managed.
A resident who self-described as a representative of "dog park parents and their little friends" told the elected officials that her feelings were hurt because it appeared the board was not paying enough attention to an email she drafted on the issue of whether to designate areas of the park available for off-leash dogs and require leashes in other areas.
"Our bottom line, as I put in my email this morning, was: Bike trail for leash, everything else off-leash," Avie Kalker told the Select Board. "And everyone who wants to walk on the grass and the fields and roam through the corn fields knows that this is the off-leash area and that dogs, for the most part, are trained.
"We're responsible people."
Monday marked the latest in a series of meetings during which the board has discussed whether and how to regulate use of the park by domestic animals and their owners.
The issue started to percolate in the spring of 2023, when a member of the board brought an bylaw proposal to the May town meeting by way of citizens' petition that would have amended the town's bylaw to require dogs to be leashed when not on an owner's property in the General Residence zoning district — which includes the Spruces Park.
This winter, the Select Board focused on the park itself, land that the town acquired about a decade ago under terms of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to close the flood-prone mobile home park on Main Street.
Select Board member Andrew Hogeland told his colleagues about an issue that had arisen since their last conversation on the park and suggested a path forward.
Hogeland pointed out that large swaths of the park are designated by MassWildlife's Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program as priority habitat areas for two species of concern: a box turtle and a sedge.
Hogeland said based on his conversation with representatives of the state agency, it would need to study and weigh in on whether the town could designate any of the land in the priority habitat for activities like dog walking.
But he did manage to identify areas of the park that fall outside Natural Heritage's designation that could be set aside for off-leash dog recreation. He showed the rest of the board two potential plans, one that mostly utilizes land that formerly was part of the mobile home park and one that used land to the west of the former residential area but to the south of the land marked as priority habitat.
Hogeland acknowledged that his designs were a starting place and that the board was unlikely to make any decisions without all members present (Chair Jane Patton was not at Monday's meeting), but the other members present indicated that either "eastern solution" or "western solution" could work.
"I personally like the idea of sharing the current space," said Randal Fippinger, who brought the 2023 dog-leashing article to the annual town meeting. "I like the idea of trying not to go in the habitat area and starting that whole process. It appears there is plenty of space that can be shared and divvied up in a thoughtful way.
"[One] reason I like [the eastern solution] is because it has a completely separate parking area. There are people who don't want to be near unleashed dogs, so that parking area is separate."
When Hogeland, the board's vice chair, opened the discussion to comments from the public in attendance, it became clear that residents who do want to run their dogs off leash had concerns about either of the two solutions he drew up.
Kalker spoke first and, among other things, asked how the Spruces got on the "hit list" of the state environmental agency.
"We're not on a hit list," Hogeland replied. "As I responded to your concerns [at past meetings], I wanted to know what the views were of other parties in town, like the Conservation Commission or Hoosic River Watershed Association. I was told there's priority habitat in that area, so that's important to note. So I contacted [Natural Heritage]."
Kalker said there is no need to get the state agency involved and indicated the town should leave things as they are in the park.
"My initial reaction to the beginning of your conversation was, 'Leave it alone,' " Kalker said. "Don't raise flags. Don't start more problems. Just leave it the way it is.
"It's rolling, and we manage our own issues out there. I'm beginning to think: Don't blow it up. Don't alert more committees. Don't bring in more people. Don't make more rules. Just let us deal with it."
Of course, part of the reason the Select Board is looking at the issue is that "the way it is" is complicated.
Right now, two elements of town code appear to be in conflict.
There is a zoning bylaw, which — since the proposed 2023 amendment did not pass — requires dogs in the General Residence district to either be on leash or under "voice control" by the owner. At the same time, there is Chapter 103, passed by the Select Board in 1977 and amended in 1998, which governs town parks and states, "It shall be unlawful for any person to [take] any animal into any park, playground or beach under the jurisdiction of the Park Commissioners, except on a proper leash."
The Select Board in Williamstown functions as its Parks Commission and makes the rules that govern any town park, like the Spruces.
Advocates of off-leash dogs at the Spruces questioned whether there was any way Natural Heritage could object to the activity in a priority habitat area to begin with.
"I've been walking down there for decades, and I've only ever seen a turtle come out once," Trish Gorman said. "A bunch of us were walking our dogs, and we kept our dogs away from the turtle.
"It's not like there are lots of turtles down there. To say there has to be a whole area to protect turtles — it's too much, quite honestly. There's just not all that much activity."
Roger Lawrence wondered aloud how off-leash dogs could impact the turtle or the grasslike sedge.
"Have biologists determined these are life forms that can tolerate dogs on leash but not dogs off leash?" Lawrence asked.
"Has anyone ever seen a dog chase a turtle? That is unknown in my experience."
But Lawrence did acknowledge that involving the commonwealth's Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program would mean, potentially, opening up a can of worms that would, at best, delay a resolution of the issue.
And Lawrence said he sympathized with residents who were uncomfortable around unleashed dogs. He told the board that Hogeland's "eastern solution" and "western solution" could work – as long as both the eastern and western parcels are designated for off-leash use.
"It would provide a large enough area for dogs to really stretch their legs," he told the board. "Dogs need to do that. When they can run freely and go a great distance and exhaust their natural energies, they're much better companions.
"I would argue for extending the off-leash area to the west of [the ‘eastern solution'] to include all of the designated non-habitat areas to the west of that."
For residents who are uncomfortable around unleashed dogs, Kalker offered an alternative.
"Cole Field is available for leash walking," Kalker said, referring to Williams College's athletic fields. "It's a delightful area. "It's the whole field and the woods and the bike trail
"It was great for us when it was off leash. If we could have it back, we probably wouldn't be having this discussion."
Tags: dogs, public parks, Spruces,
