Dog owners enjoying extended winter off-leash hours in Rye Town Park are being required to leash up their dogs earlier, following a recent policy change by the Rye Town Park Commission.
The commission decided to return to off-leash hours of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. all year round after determining that the park’s extended off-leash hour of 10 a.m. in the winter was not consistent with Rye City Code and because of concern about recent dog attacks elsewhere in Rye, according to Rye Town Park Commissioner Emily Hurd.
Dogs are prohibited from being off-leash in any other public space in Rye.
The city code states that Rye Town Park off-leash hours must be 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Nevertheless, in past years, the Rye Town Park Commission allowed longer off-leash hours from December through mid-April.
“During the winter hours, it was sort of silly that we couldn’t stay a little bit longer,” said Hurd. “If you have elementary school kids, you drop them off at 8:40 at their respective school, and then by the time you get to the park, you have, like, five minutes before you’re supposed to have your dog on leash.”
Some studies suggest that properly training and socializing dogs may be more effective in preventing dog bites than leash laws alone. And advocates of extended off-leash hours argue that the park is hardly used during the early morning hours, and there are many local dog owners who are able to make good use of the park then.
Hurd petitioned in 2022 to create an extension to 9:30 a.m. in the winter. The Commission established a trial period, and “people were really happy about it,” said Hurd.
The following year, the Commission voted unanimously to extend off-leash hours again — this time until 10 a.m. — and the policy was to repeat annually without the need for another vote, according to Hurd.
But during a Rye Town Park Commission Meeting in February, Jeffrey Binder, the Rye Town Attorney, brought up the recent dog attacks and the off-leash hours designated in the city code, according to Hurd.
Following Binder’s statements, it became clear that the Rye Town Park Commission’s “policy was inconsistent with the law,” said Hurd. The Commission voted to immediately bring back off-leash hours of 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Binder did not respond to a request for comment, referring The Record to Town Administrator Debbie Reisner. As town administrator, Reisner is also secretary to the Rye Town Park Commission.
Reisner, while acknowledging that dog attacks were brought up to the Commission, framed the reduction of off-leash hours at Rye Town Park primarily as a matter of “good policy.”
“The most important point is that when we looked at the policy, we determined that the soundest approach was to be in line with the city ordinance,” said Reisner.
“I voted against [reducing off-leash hours], but everybody else voted for it, citing liability concerns,” said Hurd. She believed that the Commission would be giving up something that’s “really enjoyed by a lot of people.”
“The solution to this problem lies in petitioning the Rye City Council to amend the Rye city code to allow for extended off-leash hours in the off-season,” said Hurd.
Without such an amendment, it’s unclear whether off-leash hours in Rye Town Park will extend past 9 a.m. next winter.
