- April 18, 2024
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Could Volusia County soon allow dogs on its beaches? The County Council will discuss this idea at its meeting at 4 p.m. on Feb. 21.
Shortly after taking his oath of office on Thursday, Jan. 5, District 4 Volusia County Councilman Troy Kent said he would begin addressing issues on his to-do list that very day. And during his closing comments of the meeting, he made a motion to put a discussion item on the agenda next month regarding opportunities to incorporate dog-friendly areas in all seaside communities.
"We have too many dog lovers in our community and it just to me is a common sense thing that we can do rather quickly," Kent said.
Kent's suggestion is to create 100-yard sections of beach in all coastal unincorporated areas and municipalities where people may bring their dogs on a leash. He recommended adding signage, trash cans and waste stations at each, as well as having a lifeguard station to ensure people follow the rules the county chooses to instate, if the council does approve of the idea.
Currently, dogs are only allowed in two beach parks, both in the south end of the county: Smyrna Dunes Park in New Smyrna Beach and Lighthouse Point Park in Ponce Inlet.
This is not the first time the issue will come before the council for consideration. Most recently, in June 2021, the council voted 5-1 to not open additional sections of the beach to dogs due to environmental concerns regarding sea turtle nesting areas and the cost of additional staff needed to enforce regulations.
In 2014, the council also voted against a proposal that would allow dogs on the beach for a trial period.
County Council Chair Jeff Brower, who was the only member in support of dog-friendly beaches back during June 2021 vote. There was some confusion among the council members when Brower first called for a second to Kent's motion, leading him to pass the gavel to new Vice Chair Danny Robins to be able to second the motion himself and not have it die.
Kent expressed confusion as to why no one would second the motion when he was asking to only have a discussion, and Robins replied that he didn't second it because the beach was "a disaster" right now and due to looming economic issues..
"I'm a dog guy just like you, just like everybody up here," Robins said. "But there's a lot of history with this."
Kent said staff would provide background information on the issue when it's placed on the agenda, and that, while the beach is in a bad condition now, it won't always be. If the council doesn't talk about it now, Kent speculated the issue would fall to the wayside.
All the while, Councilman Jake Johansson was waiting to second Kent's motion, which led to a brief discussion about rules and clarifications about how to second motions and what is needed to place an item on the agenda.
"I don't want for you all here to presuppose anything that I may or may not do until I do or do not do it," Johansson said. "And I suspect that we don't want to do that for anybody else. You were perplexed that it wasn't gonna get second. I was ready to second it."
Brower explained that Johansson's name didn't come up on his screen as wanting to speak, and that it was likely a technical glitch. He said the issue was an important item that needed to be revisited, and that he wouldn't have passed the gavel if he had seen Johansson was ready to second the motion.
"We discussed it with the last council," Brower said. "It failed. I'm glad to see it come back, so I at least wanted it seconded to discuss it."
