Dog owners who walk Winnetka's lakefront each morning are one Village Council vote away from letting their pets run off-leash at Tower Road Beach.

The Winnetka Park Board voted unanimously on Wednesday, July 1, to approve an intergovernmental agreement for a summer pilot program allowing off-leash dogs at Tower Road Beach during early morning hours. The vote came just one day after the Village Council tabled the same agreement, breaking what had appeared to be an impasse between the two governments that share control of the beach.

The pilot, if the Village Council approves it, would open Tower Road Beach to off-leash dogs from 6 to 8:30 a.m. on weekdays and 6 to 9 a.m. on weekends through Monday, September 7. The beach would revert to general public access after those windows.

More than 20 residents packed the July 1 special meeting, many of whom had attended the Village Council session the night before. Every resident who addressed the board spoke in favor of keeping Centennial Beach open to dogs.

One condition: Centennial stays open

The Park Board attached a single condition to its approval: Centennial Beach, which has operated as an on-leash dog beach since 1995, must remain open during the pilot. Park Board President Elise Gibson said the Village's proposal to close Centennial during the pilot was "never proposed to us" until the night of Tuesday, June 30, when the Village Council tabled its vote.

Village President Bob Dearborn had told trustees that evening that the two governments were "not together" on the amended Tower Road lease language. The Village-owned portion of Tower Road Beach has been leased to the Park District since 1942 for public swimming and bathing. Roughly half the beach belongs to the Village, half to the Park District.

Rejected amendments

The Park Board also rejected two proposed language changes on split votes: one that would have revoked a resident's beach privileges after three off-leash violations outside the designated area, and another allowing either party to terminate the program for "material health and safety reasons." At an earlier meeting on Thursday, June 25, a session that ran five hours, Commissioner David Seaman argued those edits made the board look obstructionist.

"Listen, this agency is pro-dog," Seaman said. "Those edits make this agency, the Board, seem anti off-leash dog."

The off-leash area at Tower Road would be marked by stanchions rather than fencing. Commissioner Jeff Tyson noted the limitation at the July 1 meeting: "It's just a line of demarcation. It doesn't block a dog."

What happens next

The Village Council did not address the pilot at its Tuesday, July 7, meeting. The next scheduled Village Council meeting is Tuesday, July 21, but the dog beach vote has not been confirmed on that agenda.

Park District Executive Director Shannon Nazzal said as of Wednesday, July 9, that no start date for off-leash access has been set. The district is waiting to hear from the Village on whether it wants to continue discussions on implementation. The agreement includes a provision fully indemnifying the Park District if issues arise during the pilot.