As far as doggie destinations go, Willard Beach in South Portland is among Maine's most popular.

"It's South Portland's jewel on the waterfront," says Tom Ayers, who takes his two rescued Australian shepherds to the public beach four to six times a week this summer.  During Maine's warmer months, South Portland allows dogs on the beach from 7 to 9 a.m. and  7 to 9 p.m.

"It's a beautiful place to commune with nature, to exercise with your dog, and to see your friends and neighbors on a daily basis," he says. "I know people personally who have walked on that beach with their dogs since they were little kids and that takes it back 50 years."

Dan LaBrie, who owns a beachfront home, has a very different take on dogs and their owners.  "We think it's very unsanitary to have dogs, hundreds of dogs, on the beach from 7 to 9 in the morning, using the beach literally as a toilet, and in the summertime people are barefoot, they picnic there, they have little kids that put sand in their mouth and we just think it's very unsanitary."

This is a conflict flaring up across beach communities in the United States. But in South Portland, the conflict has come to a full broil over the last decade, heating up city council meetings and leading to the forming of a task force last year.

Now, the issue will go to a city-wide vote. Residents led by LaBrie collected the 1,000 signatures needed to put a citizen's initiative on the November ballot. Voters will be asked to ban dogs at the public beach from April 15 to October 15.

But some city officials question whether the ban is necessary.

"Thus far, I believe there have been one or two summonses issued," says South Portland Assistant City Manager Erik Carson. "I believe one of them was for having a dog on the beach after hours and the other was for not having a dog under leash during off hours."

Carson says that dog owners have also been diligent about picking up their pets' waste. He says the city has been pleased with a decision this year to allow dogs to go on the beach in the evening, in exchange for reducing their morning beach time by an hour.

Carson says that has gone a long way toward reducing congestion on the beach in the morning. "At it's high point there were probably 20 or 30 dogs at any given point that were able to run loose on the beach and admittedly dogowners may not have paid attention, and so I think over time the issue got exacerbated to the point where the council decided to look at the issue."

But those trying to ban dogs from Willard Beach for most of the year say the council did residents a disservice by by allowing dogs on the beach in the evening during the warmer months.

"There are also a lot of people who are afraid of dogs," says Dan LaBrie.  "We have many people on our committee, they've had food taken out of their hands, so there are other issues."

Dog owners are fighting back by forming a PAC called Share Willard Beach. Ayers is their spokesman.

"Frankly, it's engaging in an act of prejudice and exclusion against a group of people have already proscribed hours that they can be there with their dog, and this is saying, 'even that's not good enough, we want you out of here the entire summer, we want to ban you from the beach with your dog, a part of your family seven months of the year," he says.  "I can't abide by that.  That's not what it means to be part of a caring, sharing community."

The PAC is about halfway toward reaching its $5,000 fund-raising goal and has canvassed about 500 households so far. They plan another blitz Thursday evening.

LaBrie says that his group is considering forming a PAC so they can print and distribute literature. He says he thinks their ballot initiative will succeed. But if they don't, he says South Portland residents will not hear another word out of him.