Borough Beaches Remain Horse-free

STONE HARBOR – At the conclusion of the Feb. 20 Stone Harbor Borough Council meeting, Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour tossed out a question she had been asked.  
The individual had asked if the borough would consider designating some times during the year when horseback riding would be permitted at the Point or on the borough’s beaches.
Lenora Tedesco, executive director of the Wetlands Institute, was present. Somewhat nonplused by the question when the Mayor asked her opinion, Tedesco took a moment before pointing out that horses would be disruptive to the Point’s protected birds and wildlife.
As for the droppings horses would inevitably leave on any beach, something the constituent had labeled a natural process; Tedesco noted that not everything that is natural is desirable.
Years of enforcement to get individuals to clean up after their dogs seemed small by comparison.
Council member Joselyn Rich reminisced about the days when Atlantic City allowed horses on its beaches, a time when, she said, the beaches in Atlantic City resembled the extensive ones in Wildwood.
Notwithstanding the walk down memory lane, the idea of horseback riding on the beaches had no support.