Harvey Starin and his Portugese Water Dog, Max, want a dog-friendly beach even if it is only two hours a day.
Dog owner and 11-year Delray Beach resident Harvey Starin wants a place near the water where he can bring his dog Max, a three-year-old Portuguese Water Dog. The only dog park within city limits is Lake Ida Park, 1455 Lake Ida Road. Starin, 62, a resident of Pelican Harbor on Ocean Boulevard, wants a portion of the city's Municipal Beach to allow dogs during low traffic times, between 5 p.m. and sunset. But, commissioners don’t want to hear Starin’s request.
“I’m asking for a few hours at sunset… Come and go as you please, and I’ll even pay for a permit if that was decided. A permit payment could boost a strapped city of Delray Beach budget,” he said.
“The problem is I know the current mayor and City Commissioners are against a dog- friendly portion of the beach.”
A brown picket fence on Ocean Boulevard allows dog owners west of the fence, but animals are not permitted east of the fence that leads down to the jewel of Delray Beach, the Atlantic Ocean beach.
Starin has set up a Web site, spent $6.99 on a GoDaddy.com domain name and set up a public forum at www.delraydogbeach.com. He’s had 253 hits on the site in just a few weeks.
City Commissioner Gary Eliopoulos is a dog lover but doesn’t support Starin’s idea for a dog-friendly beach.
“There is no bigger dog lover then me. I have had dogs my whole life and realize how they are part of the family. Unfortunately, for me our beach is one of the jewels of Delray and a lot of people have a hard time cleaning up after their dogs. For that reason I could not support a portion of our beach for dogs,” Eliopoulos said.

Bring your animal on the beach and risk a fine.

The city of Delray Beach dog ordinance.