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Pets Prohibited at Sister Bay Waterfront Park

Following a public hearing during Sister Bay’s village board meeting on July 19, the village board voted to keep pets out of the portion of the Waterfront Park that is south of the village hall. The village also prohibited pets from being in the park during special events, which was previously allowed. Five residents spoke in favor of the free roam of their pets through the park. The board voted 4 – 1 to prohibit pets in the park, with Kathy Enquist opposed.

“I think there’s lots of ways to deal with the cleanup solution,” said Enquist, responding to the primary argument against pets in the park. “As a group we keep an eye on each other. I just don’t’ see it being such a big problem.”

Prior to going to the village board, the Parks Committee recommended allowing dogs in the park.

At the public hearing, residents voiced their disagreement that dogs can be allowed in the north end of the Waterfront Park, but that there are just a few sidewalks that are off limits.

“I’m disappointed I’m not allowed to walk my dog through the park,” said Drew Bickford, manager of On Deck. “As a business manager here in the village, we’re a dog friendly business. We don’t allow dogs to run loose in our store. People can bring their dogs in to cool off, we offer them water. I’m not sure why the village can’t be just as accommodating in an outdoor public space for visitors.”

“My feelings on this come from a tourism standpoint,” said Chris Milligan, coordinator for the Sister Bay Advancement Association (SBAA). “It seems like one of the issues I hear is the mess that dogs leave and I’m wondering if we couldn’t do something like an adopt a highway program to take on that added responsibility to see how a more relaxed policy would go.”

But board member Denise Bhirdo voiced her opposition to dogs in the park after the public spoke. In response to one resident’s statement that one-third of Americans have dogs, “That means two-thirds of Americans don’t. There’s a time and place and I understand that we are a tourism-based community, but I also think if two-thirds of the people don’t have animals and you do have a dog park and you can walk your animal down the sidewalk, you just can’t walk them on the boardwalk.”

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