Condo dwellers continue to oppose dog park

Residents living in the Bays Bluff condominium at 1100 Imperial Drive are excited about the prospect of adding exercise equipment to nearby Whitaker Gateway Park.

They believe it would be a valued and popular amenity in the park near U.S. 41 and 14th Street, improving what is already a busy public space. And, most crucially, it could supplant existing plans to build a dog park on the property.

“We really cherish our park,” said Marilyn Kneafsey, a Bays Bluff resident. “We would like to see it continue to be used in the active way it is already being used and enhance those capabilities, which we think an exercise facility would do.”

Kneafsey and five other Bays Bluff residents attended Monday’s City Commission meeting in an effort to lobby officials to reconsider their previous approval for a $99,000 off-leash dog park at Whitaker Gateway Park. The condo residents started voicing their opposition to the dog park earlier this year, stating they had not been involved in the planning and approval process.

In addition to pushing an exercise circuit as an alternative, residents offered a series of reasons why the dog park wasn’t a good idea. It would take up too much space. It would draw too many people. It could lead to conflict between dogs or dog owners. It could be a breeding ground for diseases, putting children and the elderly at risk in addition to dogs.

They suggested a dog park could be a good fit somewhere else, but at Whitaker Gateway Park, they argued it didn’t make sense.

Despite opposition from Bays Bluff residents, the city is still poised to begin construction on the dog park in late September or early October. Jerry Fogle, the city’s parks and recreation director, said plans can’t be scuttled unless the commission directs staff not to proceed.

There isn’t unanimous opposition to the dog park. Fogle said the plans date back to 2015, when residents approached the city with the concept. The goal was to generate more activity. Representatives from the nearby Tahiti Park neighborhood and Sarasota Bay Club retirement complex offered support until the plans were approved in 2017.

At Monday’s commission meeting, one resident spoke in favor of the dog park. Mary Fuerst, who lives in Tahiti Park, said there was an extensive review period including advertised discussions at multiple public meetings.

“Let’s keep to the plans already approved by the surrounding neighbors, community, city staff, (Parks, Recreation and Environmental Protection) Board and the city commissioners,” Fuerst said.

Fogle was apologetic that Bays Bluff wasn’t notified about the plans, pledging to make more proactive efforts to keep residents informed about nearby projects. But he said the city is in a position where it must decide between two opposing sides.

“As far as I’m concerned, what I’m here to do is listen to our citizens and residents and do whatever we can to address their needs,” Fogle said.

Fogle said the city was particularly interested in building more dog parks after the commission adjusted its policies to require that all pets remain on leash in city parks unless they’re within a confined, dedicated dog park.

“That would help take some of the sting out of citizens not being able to have their dogs off leash in city parks,” Fogle said.

The city is working on completing another new dog park in Gillespie Park, which should be finished in August. Fogle said he delayed the commencement of the Whitaker Gateway Park dog park to give the commission more time to decide whether to proceed with the plans, but unless the board takes action in the next two months, the project is set to move forward.