CAPE MAY – The City Council is prohibiting dogs on the yet-unopened Lafayette Park nature trails, an action that came just two weeks after it adopted an ordinance that allows leashed dogs on the trails.

Council member Shane Meier had opposed the permission for dogs on the trail when the original ordinance was adopted on May 6. He carried that opposition into the council’s May 20 meeting, where he introduced a motion to prohibit dogs on the trails until a reconsideration of the newly adopted ordinance could go through the amendment process.

Meier brought to the meeting the solicitor for the city’s Board of Education, Christopher Barrett, who told the council that the school board favored a change to a prohibition of dogs on the trails. The park abuts the city elementary school, and safety concerns have been raised.

Meier also argued that dogs represented a safety concern, in the tight space of the trails. He said he was worried too that there will be dog owners who will not properly clean up after their pets.

The end result was unanimous approval of the motion made by Meier to instruct the police to enforce a prohibition of dogs on the trails until an amendment to the ordinance can be considered.

Mayor Zach Mullock said the trails have not yet been opened to the public because work on them is not yet complete. He voted for the motion even as he pointed to its being redundant.

The City Council plans to introduce an amendment to the ordinance at its next meeting to bar dogs on the trails. That amendment will have to have a first and second reading, along with a public hearing.

Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.