WILDWOOD – The Board of Commissioners has passed an ordinance that tightens up its prohibition of dogs on the boardwalk, replacing the seasonal ban with the words “at any time.”

“The ordinance reinforced the law against dogs on the boardwalk,” Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. said prior to its final passage.

The ordinance, which was passed after second reading and a public hearing, eliminates times when dogs were not permitted, specifically May 15 to Oct. 2, and instead says no person shall have a dog on the boardwalk at any time, with service dogs excepted.

Troiano said there are people who have been walking their dogs down the boardwalk in order to get to the dog park between Glenwood and Maple avenues.

Solicitor Steve Morris said there is an underpass at Maple Avenue that had been closed while it was being renovated, but it has been reopened. “So there is no need for dogs to be on the boardwalk,” Morris said.

Troiano said some people will try to skirt the law as much as possible. He said they will go up on the boardwalk with their dogs, walk three blocks, and then get off again. He said he recently pointed out the law to a man walking his dog on the boardwalk, to which the man replied, “Who are you?”

“I said I’m just a guy who knows the law,” Troiano said he told the man.

The issue of dogs on the boardwalk was raised at a previous meeting by resident Ellen Robinson, who was concerned about dog owners not cleaning up after their pets. Robinson asked about enforcement of the law.

Deputy Mayor Steve Mikulski responded that he saw an officer asking the owner of a mastiff to get off the boardwalk.

Troiano said service dogs could not be prohibited from the boardwalk.

Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 128.