Plan launched to take bite out of Dog Beach conflict

There is hope a sequel to the protracted Dog Beach drama north of town can be much more of a feel-good story than the original.

Former Town Public Works Director Gordy Bell, a La Conner native with pioneer roots, has agreed to help mediate an often emotionally charged dispute whose script addresses a familiar local theme.

That being the difficult balancing act between private property ownership, maintenance costs, and liability concerns on the one hand and safe public access to scenic pastoral and shoreline venues on the other.

Many say the timing could hardly be better to enlist Bell. He has long championed a cooperative approach to local recreational land use, and is on good terms with those who walk the beach and nearby dike as well as the area’s various land owners.

“There are a lot of people who recreate there,” says Bell. “A dialogue needs to be undertaken to establish a permanent solution for future generations.”

Years ago Bell floated the idea with its owners that the top of the dike near Dog Beach be formally transitioned to a public pathway.

The ongoing Dog Beach plot, in the meantime, has thickened since summer’s start.

There has been a flurry of letters to the Weekly News and between attorneys and persons impacted by the conflict. Flare-ups risk splitting longtime friendships and are affecting family dynamics.

The Skagit County Sheriff’s Office has fielded complaints alleging that a border-collie and borzoi mix rescue dog owned by Tammy Swanson-Toyama, one of the area’s property owners, has been aggressive toward beach walkers and their pets.

Mary Bly Accord, of La Conner, in a letter to the editor last week asking all parties to try and get along, said Swanson-Toyama’s dog tends “to bark at and chase anything on her property or the property adjoining it.”

The dog, which Swanson-Toyama says undergoes regular training sessions, has been accused of biting on at least one occasion.

Swanson-Toyama denies the accusation.

A complaint filed earlier this year by La Conner resident Janet Laurel describes the dog as large and intimidating, and apt to charge at people.

But Swanson-Toyama says her dog, Sadie, mixes well with others for the most part, acting up only when unsettled.

“It depends on the situation,” she says. “Sadie has a real maternal instinct. Some people have brought treats for her, and we’ve exchanged treats with them. So Sadie has made a lot of dog friends.”

The four-year-old dog has enjoyed runs on and near the beach, as well as dips in Swinomish Channel. “She feels like it’s her territory,” says Swanson-Toyama.

Swanson-Toyama has complained of property vandalism and having been menaced and cursed at while on her own beach walks, to the point where she has felt threatened.

Swanson-Toyama has since taken measures to curb access to areas some had mistakenly presumed were public, a move undertaken independently of her brothers, Jeff and Dean, who operate Swanson’s Farm.

“I’m the one who put up the No Trespassing signs,” she stresses. “The farm has nothing to do with it.”

The signage has not gone over well with the public. Four times signs have been removed.

“We’re on our fifth set of signs,” Swanson-Toyama says.

She says she was surprised to learn how many people visited the beach when she returned home after retiring from a 30-year career as a school teacher and librarian.

“Someone said 20 cars a day would be parked at the north end of the marina, some with out-of-state license plates,” says Swanson-Toyama. “They said there could be as many as 60 people a day out there.”

Among those torn by the strife is La Conner native Don Huddleston, who like Bell and Swanson-Toyama, hails from a pioneer family.

“People are mad,” he says. “There’s no clear right or wrong on this one. It’s a shame it got to this.”

Huddleston has been a regular at Dog Beach, which he calls “a truly magical space,” one he shares with his black lab Quincy.

He also considers Swanson-Toyama a valued customer at the building salvage store he manages, having met her when she shopped there for material to renovate the farmhouse in which her late uncle, the locally revered Austin Swanson, had resided on nearby Flats Road.

Huddleston, though he grew up here, only discovered Dog Beach – which has two separate sections – as an adult. He was introduced to it by his son, Charlie, now a science teacher in Sedro-Woolley.

“I first went there with him on a wonderful father-son walk,” Huddleston says. “He shared his love of the beach and general lay of the land. I was amazed at the beauty of the area, just a few steps from the parking area at the north edge of Port (of Skagit County) property.”

Huddleston, like many others, has embraced basking in and exploring the surroundings, a picturesque blend of sand and slopes revealing different looks based on tidal conditions.

Things got even better when Huddleston acquired Quincy.

“That was when ‘Dog Beach’ became a weekly ritual,” he says. “Quincy and I have made once to twice weekly visits to his beach for the last five years.”

Huddleston says he has made many lasting friendships at Dog Beach over the years and even considered it as a proposal spot when he asked his beloved to accept a ring.

While perhaps less romantic, walkers have also been drawn to Dog Beach by both its unmatched scenery and ideal length for beneficial exercise.

Huddleston is grateful for those quiet moments at Dog Beach when he has been able to at least briefly put aside daily worries and stresses. He knows others feel the same.

Still, he can also see the flip side, noting the natural unease those might feel should they feel trespassed upon.

The area closed off by Swanson-Toyama – who used a thick, tall blackberry brush pile in one instance – reduces beach access by nearly one-half.

All of which makes conflict resolution crucial in this instance, according to Huddleston and Town Administrator John Doyle.

“The Town of La Conner has no jurisdiction on this,” says Doyle. “It’s outside the Town limits, so we really don’t have any say or sway. But, looking at it objectively, both sides have legitimate concerns. When people are used to public access, whether it’s legal or not, they get upset when it’s denied.”

By most accounts, walkers and pet owners have been conscientious in picking up after themselves and taking care not to disturb the area’s natural setting, going so far as tethering a waste receptacle at Dog Beach. Regular beach walkers have been faithful in efforts to comb the area and remove trash and debris.

Still, the situation hasn’t been fool-proof, and has relied in great measure on the tolerance of area property owners.

“I have to say that we’re all spoiled by the Swansons’, Lervicks’, Gardners’, and Deyos’ past largesse,” says Bell, while echoing Doyle’s view that public shoreline access remains a rare commodity in Washington state compared to land use policies in Oregon, California, and Hawaii.

The La Conner area, however, is something of an exception to the rule. One Bell hopes continues going forward.

“I would propose,” says Bell, who has already met with a number of those most affected in the matter, “that people look for common ground regarding the public access we’ve been accustomed to in La Conner.”

The response to Bell’s mission has been positive thus far.

“Gordy,” says one beach-goer, “is one smart dude.”

Huddleston calls Bell “one of the sharpest tools in the shed.”

Good thing, too, since he has his work cut out for him. Though Bell isn’t complaining.

“I’m passionate about this,” he says, “being a fourth generation La Connerite.”