by J. Brooks Terry
Staff Writer
The scope of Mayor John Peyton’s Keep Jacksonville Beautiful campaign may be slightly expanded. No, the goal won’t change, but soon even pets downtown may be asked to do their part.
While City Council member Suzanne Jenkins is currently exploring ways to promote a clean up after your pets policy, no legislation has been filed.
“We’re really just getting started, but I think this is something we should be looking into now while we’re still ahead of the curve,” said Jenkins. “Our residential market is just starting to grow downtown so this really is the perfect time to look into it.”
According to current numbers, downtown is home to just over 1,500 residents. That number is expected to rise considerably as The Carlington, The Peninsula and, eventually, The Shipyards are developed, bringing thousands more into the area.
“It makes sense to have something in place before people move in,” said Jenkins. “That’s much easier than having to retrain them later. The same things goes for the animals, too.”
Though she’s not yet sure how the legislation would read, Jenkins said standards in Chicago, Tampa, Kansas City may serve as models.
In New York, for example, Council researchers said failing to clean up after your pet brings upward of a $1,000 fine.
“But ideally we’d like to create something more proactive than punitive,” she said, “something that can promote the right way to handle your pet’s waste and, ultimately, establish a standard we don’t really have right now in the area.”
Helping to establish that standard will the concerted effort of the City, pet owners and, possibly, various residential management companies.
“It might be something as simple as making people aware of the rules,” said Jenkins. “Before someone even leaves the building, they should know that they need to clean up after their pets. Some condo and apartment buildings might even want to provide little bags or something near the exits to make it even easier to do that.”
Fines, she said, would be a last resort.
“You don’t want to have to charge people, but we’ll enforce it if we have to,” she said. “If someone deliberately breaks the rules, we don’t really have a choice.”