City unleashes dog park plans

Residents near Whitaker Gateway Park and Gillespie Park have been advocating for dog areas in their neighborhood parks for years. On Aug. 21, with the city on the precipice of moving ahead with both parks, those residents faced one final challenge.

At a City Commission meeting, staff recommended allocating more than $210,000 toward the construction of the two dog parks. Throughout the year, the commission has discussed regulations governing dogs in city parks, ultimately adopting a new rule that dogs must remain on leash except in dedicated, fenced-in dog parks.

In light of that previous discussion, City Commissioner Hagen Brody questioned the decision to build two new dog parks separated by just more than a mile.

“It seems like a lot of money to spend on parks so close together when we have other issues and other parks — maybe further east of the trail — that would like to have the opportunity to have a dog park,” Brody said.

The commission ultimately approved the dog park funding 4-1, with Brody dissenting. Before the final vote, staff attempted to justify its decision to pick Whitaker Gateway Park and Gillespie Park as its first two choices for new dog parks — and suggested more dog parks could be on the way throughout the city.

Jerry Fogle, the city’s Parks and Recreation director, has identified dog parks as one way the city can improve the amenities in its parks. Whitaker and Gillespie parks are first in line because residents in the area began working with the city on the request for dog parks more than two years earlier, Fogle said.

“We have 51 parks, and we have no dog parks within city parks except for one at Arlington Park, which is a converted softball field,” Fogle said.

Residents in both areas saw dog parks as a way to increase positive activity in their neighborhoods. City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch, who previously served as president of the Tahiti Park Neighborhood Association and advocated for the creation of a Whitaker Gateway Park dog park, saw the proposal as a way to cut down on crimes such as drug use and prostitution.

“This was a way to mitigate those activities and activate the park,” Ahearn-Koch said.

Gillespie Park resident Dale Orlando began lobbying the city for a dog park in the neighborhood more than five years ago. In both Gillespie Park and Whitaker Gateway Park, residents say a lot of people walk their dogs, but are unable to let them run free.

In addition to the dog park at Arlington Park, there’s also a county-operated dog park on 17th Street near Bobby Jones Golf Club. But Orlando felt like there was a need for one closer to the downtown area — particularly given the ongoing growth.

“It just seems to me with all these condos going in everywhere, we’re going to have a bunch of people here with even more dogs,” Orlando said in a previous interview with the Sarasota Observer.

Despite residents’ claims of high demand for dog parks, Brody remained skeptical. He said it would make more sense to build one of the two dog parks in the eastern portion of the city.

“As we start populating the parks with dog areas, I would rather space them out a little bit so people over in that (eastern) area don’t have to drive to 17th Street or to Whitaker Park, or whatever’s closest to them,” Brody said.

Beginning next month, the Parks and Recreation department will begin a master planning effort, with the goal of identifying the needs of parks throughout the city. Finding locations for more dog parks will be part of that process, Fogle said.

“We will make our rounds and get everywhere throughout the city,” Fogle said.