Meetings Ahead
Most meetings in Eastham are in-person, typically with an online-attendance option. Go to eastham-ma.gov and click on the meeting you are interested in for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, May 11
- Eastham Affordable Housing Trust, 9 a.m., Small Meeting Room
- Nauset Regional School Committee, 6 p.m., Nauset Regional Middle School
Tuesday, May 16
- Annual Town Election, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Town Hall
- Eastham Elementary School Committee, 5 p.m.
Wednesday, May 17
- Open Space Committee, 3 p.m., Small Meeting Room
- Planning Board, 5 p.m., Earle Mountain Meeting Room
- Recycling Committee, 5 p.m., Public Library
Conversation Starter
Leash Laws for Wiley Park
The conservation commission voted on May 9 to have a public hearing on a series of proposed rule changes regarding recreational and canine activity on town-owned land, including the Nickerson area and Wiley Park. While high-season leash laws are on the table, it appears unlikely that they’ll be enacted for the summer of 2023.
One provision of the proposed changes would require dogs to be leashed from June 15 to Labor Day, in line with the current regulations for dogs on town-owned bay beaches. Other proposals are a leashing requirement in the parking area at Wiley Park, capping the number of dogs per walker at three, and banning leash lengths greater than 10 feet.
At the May 9 meeting, commission member Emily Beebe said it was important to address the fact that people report avoiding Wiley Park because of off-leash dogs there.
Town conservation agent Keith Johnson said that the public hearing would be scheduled for June.
The proposals were informed by a joint work session between the conservation commission and the open space committee on May 2, where members disagreed over whether to immediately implement a summer leash requirement based on community feedback gathered by letter and at two listening sessions in mid-April.
“We propose that the summer be a trial period, leaving the current regulations in place while more data is gathered,” said open space committee chair Frances Lewis. Her group suggested a monitoring committee, ideally composed of Eastham Dog Owners Association members, to walk the trails throughout the summer and analyze the damage from overuse.
Open space committee member Saul Fisher said that the monitoring committee would be a way to give dog owners more control over changing regulations.
Michael Harnett of the conservation commission advocated for a June 15 to Labor Day leash law, while Joanna Buffington said she thought that would only further alienate dog owners.
A straw poll of the two groups found support to be split roughly down the middle for a summer leash law beginning in 2023 versus a monitoring committee whose findings would be evaluated in September.
Members said they had reached out to the dog owners association to gauge potential interest in the monitoring committee idea, but just four owners were interested. —Amelia Roth-Dishy
