Wednesday, November 7, 2001
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Wednesday, November 7, 2001 |
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PTC to ban pet poop at city parks, ballfields? By JOHN MUNFORD
Peachtree City's athletic venues and parks are going to the dogs, which normally wouldn't be a bad thing. But more and more dog owners are failing to clean up after their pets leave "deposits," and that has drawn the ire of some citizens complaining to the Recreation Department. Now, the City Council is considering an ordinance requiring all pet owners to clean up after their pets in city parks. Randy Gaddo, director of leisure services for the city, said employees have approached several dog owners about cleaning up after their pets, but that hasn't been effective. At Thursday's City Council meeting, Gaddo said children using the athletic fields in particular are coming into contact with "remnants of dogs having been there." "Now we're getting complaints from the parents of kids, and they don't appreciate it," Gaddo said of the uncollected doggie deposits. The original version of the ordinance would have banned pets from city athletic fields. But Councilman Steve Rapson said he felt dogs and other pets shouldn't be banned from the fields because many people take their pets there to recreate. He said the part of the ordinance requiring the cleanup behind pets would accomplish the same result. Council essentially agreed and asked Gaddo to make changes to the ordinance for consideration at a later date. The ordinance also would ban pets from specially surfaced tennis courts and basketball courts, although recreation officials will allow the tennis courts at Pebblepocket Park to be used by pets. The problem is that pets scratch the surfaces of tennis and basketball courts and their deposits leave stains on the courts, Gaddo said. "I guess the message to citizens is ... if you can't be responsible enough to take care of it yourselves, we'll have to legislate common sense somehow," Lenox said. "But I hate to start there."
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