The city of Northampton deserved more from the Smith Vocational and Agricultural High School trustees.
Their decision to crack down on a long-time practice of allowing dogs to run off-leash on the land overlooked ample evidence that the majority of people who bring dogs to the property have been working earnestly to keep their pets under control, clean up after them and to otherwise be responsible users of this land – 282 acres of woods, trails and fields that are a public treasure.
The board’s chair, Michael T. Cahillane, seemed aware that while the board had the power to propose new rules, under pressure to do so by the state Department of Agriculture, it lacked complete justification for it.
“This is not cast in stone,” Cahillane told a crowd of more than 50 people. “Tonight is the start of a process.”
But on hearing of the new rules, more than half of those attending left, clearly frustrated that their efforts over many months to preserve off-leash dog walking had failed.
Cahillane is right that the policies still need to be adopted by the agriculture department, which regulates use of the land off Burts Pit Road. But for dog owners, it is disingenuous to suggest they have recourse.
A note at the end of a three-page document written by Tim Smith, the school’s lands manager, and Superintendent Jeffrey Peterson shows how eager officials were to be done with this matter. “Any changes to this are beyond SVAHS scope of use and should be left to the lawyers and politicians to reconcile.”
What an infuriating shrug of the shoulders from a school that enjoys free access to farm fields supported by taxpayer money.
The trustees had it right last fall, when they proposed that passive recreation allowed on the land could include not only disc golf, foot races and trail walking but also dogs running off leashes as they have for years. The school claims the state rejected that plan, saying it lacked structure.
Since then, the school has posted new signs about proper etiquette on the land and volunteers have raised awareness among dog owners that they should work to preserve access to the land by cleaning up dog waste. Those volunteers installed a poop bag dispenser at the trailhead and regularly empty the trash can that serves as a repository.
Rather than build on those gains, Smith and Peterson, in their statement, note that the public has “exploited” use of the land and say, without justification, that “the anything goes mentality has to stop.”
Further, the statement claims that “there needs to be some order and visitors to the site must act responsibly and follow all posted rules.” It flags the menace of dog attacks and claims “many owners have little control over the animals.”
As a Gazette story details today, dog attacks on the state land over the last five years are uncommon – though any such incidents do threaten public safety and must be dealt with accordingly.
One of the proposals struck from consideration Tuesday was a call to have city police or animal control officials check the property once a week. That leaves no mechanism to enforce the new rules. People who do or do not support off-leash dogs will be left to argue among themselves. That is untenable.
A better next step by school trustees would have been to understand and answer the ag department’s objections, rather than toggling in frustration, with limited evidence, to the opposite side of this polarized issue.
Sadly, no politicians have come forward to help. There are many candidates, since this is state land leased to the city and administered by a school.
Someone can still be a hero here.