The Dog-gone Facts About a Dog Park

The last recommendation from Payne/Phalen District Five Planning Council’s Arlington/Arkwright Dog Park subcommittee which came from meetings this summer with neighbors, park staff, police, and dog owners, has now made its way through its land use committee and been approved by the Board of Directors.

I won’t publish all the details of the recommendations. I chaired that subcommittee so it might seem self-serving and I really don’t have a good angle to view it all from. Except for the first one which called for a new gate on the southwestern side of the park on Arkwright and has already happened, they will all have to work their way through the various processes.

But I do think that one truth came through clearly in all of this. I haven’t ever owned a dog, but I can see this:

THIS CITY NEEDS MORE DOG PARKS.

Most of the problems which had neighbors concerned in the first place at Arlington/Arkwright were caused or aggravated by overuse. That the city only has one such place is the problem.

When the dog park was established six years ago, it was established on a one-year trial and the District Council agreed to monitor matters in a half year and after one year before recommending that the park be continued. There were no complaints in that first year, and indeed In six years there have been almost no complaints to the District Council office.

The ones we did receive came from overuse, from too many people parking and parking by the back entrance on Clark for easier access.

And we learned that while many of the users did come from the East Side, that many come from suburbs where the people are quite accustomed to leeching off city people and quite a few people came from Saint Paul neighborhoods across town – Mac-Groveland, Merriam Park, St. Anthony Park, and West Seventh were mentioned.

These people don’t come here for anything else. They don’t eat at Serlin’s or Governor’s or buy their hardware from Kendall’s. They don’t attend services at our churches. One of them did mention buying tires at a now gone Tires Plus, but I’m not sure how much play that should get.

We need a new dog park for them. At one time Councilmember Thune suggested one at the site of the soon-to-be removed NSP High Bridge Plant. I don’t know if that is still in his mind yet, but it makes sense to me. I would even go along with closing the Kelly Crosstown [aka Short Line Road aka Ayd Mill Road] and making it a linear dog park. But we probably need one further north.

Any suggestions?