An outspoken critic of allowing dogs on Willard Beach is trying to force a citywide referendum to ban pets from the popular shorefront in the summer and require them to be leashed during off-season months.

Gary Crosby, who leads the grassroots group Save Willard Beach, has submitted papers at South Portland City Hall that will be reviewed by city attorneys. The proposed ballot initiative also will be reviewed by the South Portland City Council, which can vote to accept it by law or forward it to referendum on a citywide ballot.

Crosby also will be required to collect signatures for the citizens’ initiative and bring the question to ballot in November 2009.

He must get roughly 975 signatures, or at least 5 percent of the registered voters.

Crosby’s proposed ballot question states:

“Do you favor changing the existing Willard Beach ordinance to read as follows, in order to limit dogs on Willard Beach?

“… No person owning or in custody or control of any dog shall permit such dog to enter upon Willard Beach between the months of April 15 through October 15. Dogs will be allowed on Willard Beach between October 16th and April 14th on leash under owner’s control during park hours.”

Crosby said that city attorneys first need to review and approve the ballot language, which he submitted on Dec. 24. He said the language in the referendum is similar to Maine law at state-run beaches.

Crosby, a local businessman, said that he and several other members of the newly formed Save Willard Beach group are dissatisfied with the City Council’s work to revise pet access rules based largely on complaints by beachfront homeowners.

“A very large number of residents disagree with what the Council is doing,” said Crosby, who describes himself as a pet owner.

Crosby, who previously has run to serve on the City Council, lives off Broadway, which is not near the waterfront.

“Our group and many people I’ve talked to feel the Council dropped the ball in regards to adopting new regulations to restrict pet access,” he said. “They’re not proposing to shrink the hours that pets are allowed on the beach, but extend them.”

Crosby was referring to the Dec. 22 City Council workshop, where councilors informally agreed to several revisions to current city law on pet access to the beach. No vote was taken at the workshop.

The proposed changes include:

• Revising summer hours for dog walkers from 6-9 a.m. to 7-9 a.m. Hours would be added in the evening, from 7-9 p.m. This takes away the earliest hour and brings the hours in line with other anti-noise laws in the city.

• Creating fines for violators. The proposed fines are $100 for the first offense, $250 for the second offense and $500 for third and subsequent offenses.

• Requiring the animal control officer to frequently patrol the beach to enforce the laws regarding nuisance dogs.

Councilor Linda Boudreau said she wanted to throw out the recommendations and let the issue go to a citywide referendum. Councilor Maxine Beecher voiced support for Boudreau’s idea. But Mayor Tom Blake and new Councilors Tom Coward and Patti Smith said they opposed it.

No mention of Crosby’s initiative was made, since it had not been submitted or publicized.

After Monday’s meeting, Crosby submitted papers to City Hall for review that will allow him to move forward with the petition drive for a referendum.

Crosby said that he does not believe councilors would be surprised by the move.

“They know a lot of people are irritated at the moment,” he said. “I think they know this is coming. If not, they are disconnected.”

Councilors also remain split on two other dog-related issues and have sent two proposed rules back to the city staff for editing.

Councilors could not reach consensus on whether to create an advisory group to deal with pet issues in open spaces, and were split on a proposal to start summer hours in April instead of May.

City Manager Jim Gailey and Assistant City Manager Erik Carson, who worked with the Willard Beach Task Force, said they would rework the language and report back.

The Council did reject a recommendation that would set rules on dogs in other public spaces, including Bug Light and Spring Point Light parks. It decided to focus on Willard Beach at this point, but said it could revisit these other areas if they turn out to be problems.

Crosby is predicting that a summertime ban of dogs at the beach would be adopted by voters, based on the numbers of dog owners in the city. About 1,800 pets are registered in South Portland, while there are more than 17,000 registered voters.

Crosby said he believes a lot of people will agree to the summertime ban and leash law for health and safety reasons.