A councilman's idea to start allowing dogs on the beaches during the evening never reached any formal discussions.
OCEAN CITY -- The dog beach plan is dead.
The plan, developed by a councilman, would have allowed dogs on the beach during the summer but it never reached any formal discussions after it received stiff resistance from beachgoers.
City Council President Keith Hartzell said he flirted with the idea of allowing dogs on the beaches from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. during the summer when the popular Shore destination swells in size to more than 115,000 people.
But Hartzell quickly rescinded the idea after he saw the plethora of negative responses to a local news outlet's story and received emails and phone calls on the issue.
"When you're in a Shore town, you don't need a controversy," Hartzell said. "If it's not broken, don't fix it. That's really where I ended up."
Like other popular Shore destinations, dogs are not allowed on the beaches in Ocean City from May 1 through Sept. 30. In the offseason, dogs are permitted on most of the city's beaches, but they must be held on a leash.
One of Hartzell's plans included putting a dog-bag stand at every entrance along the 2.5-mile beach, and then charging beachgoers $10 tags to bring their dog on the beach. He said the revenue made from the passes would have offset the costs of the bag stands and the tag-checkers.
But the probability that every single dog owner would not clean up after his or her dog derailed the plan.
"At the end of the day, it would really depend on owners being responsible," Hartzell said. "It started to appear that it would become cumbersome, and people did not believe owners would pick up after their dogs."
He said the last thing he needed for Ocean City, which consistently ranks as one of the top beaches in the Garden State, was for a beachgoer to find dog feces one morning.
"It would go viral," Hartzell said.
Local officials at popular Shore destinations have long grappled with ways to accommodate dog owners who want to enjoy the beach with their companions.
In Manasquan, officials decided to designate one portion of a popular recreation area as a dog beach. In Asbury Park, during the summer, dogs are only allowed on one beach from 6 p.m. to 8:30 a.m. That changes from Oct. 1 through May 15 when dogs are permitted on that same beach all day.
Hartzell said he considered proposing designating one beach in Ocean City as a "dog beach," but then it wouldn't be fair to people who live close to that beach and oppose the idea. Also, it wasn't practical to think that there would always be parking available near the designated dog beach, the councilman said.
For now, Hartzell is scrapping his idea but said he is open to suggestions from residents and tourists alike.
"I'm leaving it open right now," he said.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.