PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • May 3, 2024
A Portland man has filed a second lawsuit against the city challenging rules that require dogs to be leashed in Baxter Woods at times. Marc Lesperance says in a lawsuit that the city’s restrictions on unleashed dogs in the popular 32.5-acre park in Deering Center go against what former Maine Gov. Percival Baxter intended. He is asking a judge to strike down the city’s leash rules and stop the parks department from issuing violations for dogs running at large. When Percival Baxter gave 29 acres to the city in honor of his father in 1946, he stipulated that the park “shall forever be kept in its natural wild state and as a sanctuary for wild birds.” In 2021, to protect migratory birds during nesting season and control dogs running loose, the City Council adopted a policy that requires owners to keep their dogs on an 8-foot leash from April 1 to July 31. In other months, dogs are allowed to be unleashed between 5 and 9 a.m. and 3 and 10 p.m.