SACO — Dog owners who bring their four-legged friend to the beach better take a leash come April.

The Saco City Council on Tuesday night unanimously approved an ordinance requiring dogs be on leash at all times on areas of the beach where piping plovers or least terns are present or have previously nested from April 1 through Sept. 30. The ordinance goes into effect 30 days after it was approved, so it would not impact beach goers this month.

Under the previous ordinance, which the city is under until the end of the month, dogs must be on leash on the beach from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. in July and August.

The new ruling aligns city ordinance with regulations put forth in a beach management plan the city signed a few months ago with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries.

The signed agreement ensures protection of endangered and at-risk wildlife, including piping plovers, a tiny shore bird that is a federal threatened species and a state endangered species.

The beach management plan, which includes the new dog leash restrictions, has been agreed upon as a prerequisite by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to move forward on a beach replenishment project, say city officials. The proposed project would use sand from dredging of the Saco River in November to replenish a stretch of eroded coastline in the Camp Ellis area.

“If we don’t vote positively for this tonight, they’re not going to dredge this fall,” said Councilor Lynn Copeland.

Though she loved animals, and she’d love to be able to allow her dogs to roam the beach, Copeland said, the ordinance change needed to pass.

“I think the stakes are too high here, I think this is really important to our community,” she said.

Councilor Alan Minthorn said he received a lot of public input about the ordinance. He said he needed to respect the more than 20 years of effort made to get work done to mitigate erosion in Camp Ellis.

“For tonight, I think we need to pass this as is,” he said, however, he said the council could review the matter and possibly come up with something in the future that would meet federal requirements but support the needs and desires of residents.

Copeland said she would take the lead in reviewing the matter, as she had many questions and it was something the city needed to vet further.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.