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Yesterday while walking with friends along the periphery. the time was about 6:30AM. Not sure where, across the road from Oxford. And in the center of the" walkers road", was a pile of dog dung.
Whoever allowed this, and did not clean it up is only one of many, who will feel free to "walk" their dog wherever they like . It is an example of too many resident, visitors, owners, who think
Century Village is a "resort' and the "help" will take care of everything. Not so, we are a condominium community, with rules. OK your condo Association OK'd animals. Keep the animal in you area. I like dogs, and if their owners did they would do right by them and clean up.
UCO, WPRF ,and every Association needs to get on the ball to keep Century clean or we will quickly become a slum. The dog dung in the common ground walkway is a sign it is beginning.
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We keep talking about this to no avail. How can this be enforced if there are no penalties....only sloppy uncaring people?
ReplyDeleteThe bully pulpit--in this case the UCO Reporter--may help. I'm going to write something about this and submit it to the editors. A blurb about this in a box from time to time may help to educate people. Apparently this is a pretty unenforceable matter, ruthchild, but repeated notices about it may turn the tide in time. It took time to get people to divide up their trash. It took time to get boaters to not throw their trash overboard into the ocean. Eventually, though, education worked and the old practices largely died away.
ReplyDeleteGo for it Lanny. Please emphasize there should be RESPECT for the village and our bylaws. When I meet errant dog-walkers I say, 'Please go back to your property and have some RESPECT for our Village'.
ReplyDeleteFlorida trespass statutes provide a remedy. Post the common areas no part of any associations with a "No Animals Allowed" signage. Violators will then be subject to fines and summons.
ReplyDeleteGood idea Lanny howe and Howard. I'm with you all the way if you need.
ReplyDeleteThe following is one of two blurbs I suggested to the Reporter editors:
ReplyDeleteDog Owners, Please Note:
The general rule throughout the Village is No Pets. However, some associations have modified their bylaws to allow certain pets, which in some cases includes dogs. These modified bylaws apply ONLY to the property of that particular association and usually stipulate that dogs must be on a leash and that whoever is walking the dog must pick up and dispose of any dog messes. Dogs are NOT ALLOWED on the Village public property (lands, roads and sidewalks).
Please be a good neighbor and abide by these simple rules if you are a dog owner.
Lanny, where is the "General rule" that prohibits pets on "Village public property"? Where can I find and read this rule?
ReplyDeletePicking up dog crap is a no brainer- almost certainly there is a Palm Beach County ordinance against this behavior, as is the case in every other civilized place. Enforcement is a different story.
For five years I have been observing, and occasionally kibitzing in this "Dog Doo Debate". If there was a Rule that prohibits the "reasonable and responsible" use of common areas by dog walkers, and if this Rule was enforceable, the Rule would have already been posted on this Blog and Security would be enforcing it.
Since this is a perennial "hot topic", it would be nice to see an article in the Reporter about it. At the very least, a polite reminder to dog walkers about pet restraint and sanitation could only help. If there is a "General rule", print it.
Read your by laws. Our state no animals. Some associations have changed their by laws to allow pets. That means that the pets can be walked on their association only.
ReplyDeleteGrace, I don't follow your logic. Our association's bylaws end at our property lines. What about people who walk their dogs on common areas, which belong to no association specifically and to all homeowners jointly? Where is the Rule that SPECIFICALLY prohibits homeowners from walking their dogs in the perimeter pedestrian walkway? And, if such a Rule exists, is it enforceable?
ReplyDeletePalm Beach County Animal Care and Control Ordinance 98-22
ReplyDeleteSec. 4-5. Animals creating nuisances.
(a) The owner having control or custody of any dog, cat or psittacine bird that:
(2) Disturbs the peace by habitually or repeatedly destroying, desecrating or soiling public or private property, ...shall constitute a public nuisance.
Sec. 4-9. Animal waste.
The owner of every dog and cat shall be responsible for the removal of any feces deposited by his/her animal on public property, public walks, public beaches, recreation areas or private property of others.
(Ord. No. 98-22, § 9, 6-16-98
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control Ordinance 98-22
ReplyDeleteSec. 4-5. Animals creating nuisances.
(a) The owner having control or custody of any dog, cat or psittacine bird that:
(2) Disturbs the peace by habitually or repeatedly destroying, desecrating or soiling public or private property, ...shall constitute a public nuisance.
Sec. 4-9. Animal waste.
The owner of every dog and cat shall be responsible for the removal of any feces deposited by his/her animal on public property, public walks, public beaches, recreation areas or private property of others.
(Ord. No. 98-22, § 9, 6-16-98
Thank you Howard. i have printed what the ordinances are and will put it on my bulletin boadr. i think it is something UCO can print and have it on all the bulletin boards of each section.
ReplyDeleteIf not UCO then WPRF. Not sure which.
The UCO reporter would do well to put it every month in the reporter till people get the message.
Right on Howard- but this is a County-wide ordinance against Bowser leaving a pile of poo on the sidewalk and the owner sauntering away like nothing happened. It does not prohibit a dog walker's reasonable and responsible use of the CV perimeter walkway. "Reasonable and responsible" means leash and ziplock bag. And a muzzle if Fifi is a nipper.
ReplyDeleteMy concern here is that this is a "hot topic", by which I mean people on both sides if the issue tend to get steamed up about it. Casual mention of "general rules" that may not exist, or are unenforceable (which amounts to the same thing), may have the effect of emboldening individual homeowners to confront individual dog walkers. Recipe for disaster.
I suspect that our UCO Reporter editors are aware of this possibility, and edit accordingly and responsibly.
Don, let's find out the law as it affects CV. "Hot topic', everyone should understand what it means to clean-up dog poop. I love dogs ,I don't like walking on their poop where I live. had enough in Brooklyn, Ny.
ReplyDeleteIf dog walkers do what they need to dog with their dogs poop there would not be ,what you call,"confrontations'.
Agreed- but individual confrontation and even enforcement is not the answer. I believe the answer is the "soft" approach- creating an atmosphere where NOT picking up the doots is shameful and unthinkable. I have lived in places where this is the case, most recently Burlington, Vt, the most dog-lovingest and poop-free place I have ever seen.
ReplyDeleteThe "soft approach" is , frankly speaking, not Century Village's strong suit. Every other person is a poolside lawyer, and every third person has an ax to grind. But it is the only solution to this particular problem. I would not be surprised if the "specimen" that started this thread was a nocturnal "revenge bombing" left by a put-upon dog walker. It happens.
Hi Don 4060. Sorry to be this long getting back to you. Your point is well taken. At the Reporter office we are holding the blurbs I suggested till we are sure we are correct in stating that dog owners cannot legally walk their dogs on the public parts of the Village. It has long been SAID this is the rule, but is it true is the question. I got quite a chuckle out of your statement about the soft approach not being CV's strong suit!
ReplyDeleteGiven the subject matter, "soft" nay had been a poor word choice.
ReplyDeleteThe blue and white signs on our guard houses say No Dogs Allowed in Common Areas. That is a UCO regulation, if it needs more tightening it could be run thru the usual layers of committees to the Delegate Assembly.
ReplyDeleteThe perimeter road and paths are UCO common property.