Dolores unleashes town

Dolores unleashes town's canines

May 17, 2001

By Janelle Holden
Journal Staff Writer

Dolores will stay wide open for adult entertainment, but town dogs should be leashed, the Dolores town board decided on Monday.

After a contentious public hearing, the board voted 3-2 (two members were not present) to require an under-15-foot leash on dogs within the town limits.

"A dog shall be deemed to be ‘running at large’ when it is off or away from the premises of its owner or is not under the direct control of such owner by a leash, cord or chain of no more than fifteen (15) feet in length," the newly amended ordinance states.

Before amending the ordinance, residents were allowed to control their dogs by voice, but dogs were not allowed "at large."

Mayor Jim Moore, and trustees Richard Teel and Val Truelsen voted to leash the dogs, while trustees Tazewell Vass and Bev Speece voted against the proposed ordinance.

At prior meetings, Moore had promised to vote according to the results of a town survey mailed along with city water bills and available at the town hall. Of the 198 residents who responded, 58 percent advocated a leash law, and 42 percent were opposed. Nearly 400 surveys were sent out.

"I think we have done everything we can to notify the citizens of Dolores," Moore explained to the leash law’s detractors.

"The survey is not a vote of the public, it’s not of registered voters, it’s not a legal thing to use. But it is a piece of information to take in terms of making your decision," argued resident Marianne Mate. "This is an old saying, but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it."

The board admitted that since the town has hired an animal-control officer, the incidents, warnings, and tickets for dogs at large have dropped. Gary Hansen, the animal-control officer, was not at the meeting, which angered many of the gathered opponents who wanted to hear his opinions.

"We didn’t ask him here because we can see that it has had an effect," explained Moore.

Residents against the ordinance argued that Hansen has eliminated the need for a leash law.

"The incidents for me, from having to pull my dogs away from dogs that aren’t leashed or aren’t under voice control, have gone way down," resident Lisa Roche told the board.

But Moore thought that stray dogs were still a problem. "I went out my back gate last week and there were two big dog piles back there. My dogs don’t go out the back gate," he explained.

"I just feel like it’s punishing responsible citizens because people who allow their dogs to run at large will continue to do so," explained resident Kate Thompson, who wanted the board to consider enacting the ordinance only for certain zones in town, such as Railroad Avenue.

Mate also argued that if the town board decided to pass the leash law, a reasonable compromise would be to exempt Joe Rowell Park and Riverside Park from the ordinance so that there was some place in town for owners to let their dogs run loose.

"I think you’re really asking for a lot of trouble in terms of enforcement," said Mate. "My comment is, again, that I think you should be able to compromise on this a little bit and make it work for everybody."

Allowing her dogs the freedom to play somewhere in town was an important distinction for Roche, who explained why she was against the leash law with, "Because I have two little dogs that love to go down and roll in the grass without their leashes on."

But Moore and other trustees were concerned about dogs threatening children in the park and possibly biting residents.

"If you read the papers and watch the news, you can see the number of people who have been maimed and killed in the last six months by dogs in the United States," explained Moore.

Three residents spoke in favor of the ordinance.

"I think it (the leash law) is more for the humans’ liberty than the dogs," said resident Wendy Watson.

Later in the meeting, an ordinance to create an adult-entertainment zone within Dolores and regulate potential adult businesses failed to move past first reading because of a lack of a motion.

"If somebody wanted to move into this town with an adult-entertainment store they could do it on any property zoned for business. Period," said Jim Hatter, the town’s attorney, during the public hearing.

None of the assembled board members explained to the gathered crowd their reasons for letting the matter die.

The proposed ordinance would have created a 300-foot zone for adult businesses on North Fourth and Fifth streets behind the Del Rio. Because the town is so small, it was difficult to find an area that was 300 feet from a school, church, or park in town.

The Dolores Planning and Zoning Commission worked on the proposed ordinance for nearly three months before the board considered it.

After the ordinances were dropped, Rob Peterka, the chairman of the planning commission, asked the board, "You guys were willing to pass the dog leash law ordinance to protect the town from stray dogs, but you’re not willing to protect the town from adult entertainment? I guess I’m a little concerned when we’re going to proceed with it."

The mayor earlier explained that the board had "felt a need" for restricting adult entertainment because Cortez recently enacted restrictions and the town was afraid it would get the overflow.

The restrictions would have been similar to the Cortez ordinance, limiting the time and nature of adult activities at any future business.

At the end of the meeting, trustee Vass updated the board on the possibility of the Iron Horse rally coming to Dolores, and said that after contacting the rally organizers, he’d learned Dolores is "one of several solutions they’re researching — probably not the best one."