A public meeting was held last month to discuss the proposed changes to the current Pet Restraint Ordinance. Community members participated to provide input and hear presentations from the Town of Kiawah Island’s Biologists and the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources. This meeting is viewable here.
Concluding the public meeting, the Town’s Pet Restraint subcommittee, part of the Environmental Committee, met to further discuss the ordinance. The subcommittee updated the proposed changes to the ordinance.
These updates included:
- Defining the exact boundaries of Suitable Nesting Habitat. Proposed Suitable Nesting Habitat will extend west from the Ocean Course Clubhouse for 750 yards. This area represents 38 percent of the existing Dog Use area and would require that pets be leashed seaward of this area during nesting season when signs are present.
- Clarifying the location of existing Critical Habitat areas.
- Deleting Chapter 6-Critical Habitat Areas in its entirety.
- Adding two weeks to the start of the Seasonal Dog Off Leash Area time period. Dogs would be allowed off leash in this area from October 16 to February 28.
The Environmental Committee will convene to further discuss the pet restraint ordinance on Wednesday, Nov. 13, at 1 p.m., in person at Town Hall. The public is invited to attend to hear the discussion or provide public comment at the meeting.
Reasons for the Proposed Changes
- The presence of large numbers of Red Knots (recently listed as Federally Threatened) on our beach generally begins around March 1. Red Knots are long distance migrants and disturbance by pets can have a significant detrimental impact on their survival. Approximately 40 percent of the entire eastern population of Red Knots relies on the Kiawah beach to rest and refuel during spring migration. Read more about Kiawah’s critical role in protecting Red Knots in a scientific paper available here.
- The buildup of dunes and dry sand in the eastern portion of the current Dog Use area, the subsequent nesting activities in these areas by shorebirds, and the loss of significant amounts of nesting habitat east of the Ocean Course Clubhouse.
- Nesting shorebirds are extremely vulnerable to disturbance that can lead to nest abandonment and failure. Shorebirds exhibit different flight responses to dogs compared to humans. When dogs approach, especially off-leash or running, shorebirds perceive a greater threat, leading to rapid takeoff and distancing from the area. Read scientific studies here: Literature Review, Study 1, Study 2, and Study 3.
Actions taken:
The Town’s Environmental Committee has been discussing beach pet restrictions since February. These discussions included several meetings of the Pet Restraint subcommittee, consisting of Town staff and property owner representatives. Since these discussions, the subcommittee has taken the following actions:
- Conducted an audit of all beach signage;
- Designed new beach signage designed to educate beach-goers on the fragility of shorebird nesting and migration (as well as turtle nesting), and increase compliance with existing beach rules and regulations;
- Begun to develop a monitoring system to collect data on beach use and shorebird disturbance; and
- Worked with the Kiawah Island Golf Resort to add signage to the dunes at the Ocean Course.
Please note that the Environmental Committee may or may not decide on a recommendation regarding the proposed amended Pet Restraint Ordinance. If a recommendation is made, it would then go before Town Council for further consideration and discussion.