SOUTH PORTLAND (WGME) — It’s a debate that has been going on for years in South Portland: should dogs be allowed on city beaches and if so, what time of year and day?

The city council made amendments to these rules earlier this month, and residents are now trying to petition those changes.

Currently, dogs are allowed to be off-leash on Willard Beach from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 pm. But under an ordinance change passed by the city council, dogs will have to be on-leash from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Those changes are expected to go into effect on June 28.

South Portland resident Michael Schwartz opposes the changes made by the council and created a petition in homes to extending the window where dogs are allowed on the beach.

“Why don’t we say from 5 p.m. to you know what? That’s just leash time,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz did more than walk his dog in South Portland a decade ago, his dog, Pre, pulled him while he rollerbladed instead. But with Pre getting older, a walk on Willard Beach is more his speed.

“When we’re down at the beach, it’s a community,” Schwartz said. “And what I mean by community, I almost don’t know people’s last names. I don’t know how much money people make. I don’t know how they vote.”

The South Portland City Council passed the current rules on June 14 after listening to public comments from both sides.

“Everybody was allowed to speak for five minutes, tell a story, and then at the end, there wasn’t any give or take,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz emphasizes he is not a leash fundamentalist or an unleash absolutist.

“My hope is that the council can pause and reconsider, and then we can all put the heated rhetoric and invective and vitriol aside,” Schwartz said.

Schwartz needs 1,098 signatures before turning the petition in on Monday. He said he’s three-quarters of the way to his goal.

If enough signatures are collected, the petition will move forward to a future council agenda to request a repeal of the new ordinance. If the council fails to repeal the ordinance, the question will go on the ballot for a future election.