Dog park on hold

(5/21) The Parks Commission has decided for more in-depth planning before moving forward with construction of a dog park within Heritage Farm Park. The inclusion of a dog park at Heritage Farm was suggested after last year’s parks development survey revealed that a number of town residents were interested a dedicated unleashed space for their dogs.

Heritage Farm is a popular site for dog-walking with its open fields and paved walking trails. However, a fenced and unleashed space would allow pet owners to let their dogs run and play without fear of dangers like car traffic.

The tentative site of the dog park is the former compost area, located between the water tower and community garden. This space has remained unused for several years and maintains a greater distance from sports fields and residential homes than other spaces in the park. It is also located close to parking and to the water line if a dog water fountain is installed.

The Town Council agreed at the April 26 meeting that should the dog park be built, it would likely consist of a 100 ft. by 100 ft. area for large dogs and a 40 ft. by 100 ft. area for small dogs (defined as under 30 lbs.), in addition to an unleashing area. The estimated cost for a dog park of this size is $25,998.

While some commissioners believe the park will be a welcome addition to the community, others expressed concerns over clean-up, maintenance, and dog injury. Some members of the Parks Commission advocated for a residents-only keycard system, which would limit access to the park to town residents who had filed paperwork (to track dog vaccinations, etc.) and obtained a keycard to enter the fenced area. However, this suggestion was countered by Patrick Heizer at the May Parks meeting. Heizer and his family own a farm in the Glade Valley area, but are not technically within the town limits.

"It would be a little self-serving for me to come here as a non-resident to tell the town what they should or shouldn’t do, but I’m here because I believe it would be better for Walkersville residents as well for a keycard system not to be installed," said Heizer.

He then referenced the "time tax," or the unnecessary use of citizens' time on "bureaucratic" measures by private and public organizations. "A keycard system would require residents to assemble paperwork, bring it to the town, take possession of a keycard when we already have possession of so much stuff," said Heizer. "They’d bring it down to the park, frustratingly have to drive back home if it was forgotten, would eventually lose it, and have to do paperwork all over again. And, eventually it will break and then no one can use it until it’s fixed."

Members of the commission noted Heizer’s concerns, as well as the additional cost a keycard system would bring. An alternative, cheaper solution to worries of park misuse may be to install security cameras in the park, as per the suggestion of Burgess Weddle. But some wonder whether these measures are too excessive.

Until these issues are resolved, the Dog Park, which was supposed to be paid by Project Open Space (POS) funds, is on hold as the deadline for POS projects has passed and submission for its funding will have to wait until next year.