Residents decry dog park plans

Whitaker Gateway Park was bustling the weekend of Feb. 18, with nearby residents and visitors descending on the 8-acre swath of green space nestled between U.S. 41 and Sarasota Bay.

Amid all the activity, Ann Hotaling was gathering signatures. Hotaling, president of the Bay’s Bluff condominium association, is part of a newly coalescing effort to organize against the planned addition of a dog park to the premises.

The city has already approved the Whitaker dog park, but Hotaling found plenty of people sympathetic to her cause. Since learning about the project in early February, Hotaling has helped gather more than 120 signatures in opposition to the project.

Bay’s Bluff is adjacent to the park, but Hotaling said residents there weren’t consulted about the proposal before the city approved it in August 2017.

“We share two football field lengths with the park on our north side,” Hotaling said. “We couldn’t believe we weren’t included in the conversation.”

On Feb. 20, Hotaling appeared alongside other Bay’s Bluff residents and Whitaker park users at a City Commission meeting. They asked the city to reconsider its approval of the dog park in light of the recent surge in opposition to the project.

“There’s an old adage that says: Why fix what is not broken?” said Paul Kuusisto, another Bay’s Bluff resident. “The park is a fabulous resource for those of us who use it, particularly on the north side of Sarasota.”

Residents have a variety of complaints about the dog park. Chief among them is parking, Hotaling said. She said visitors to Whitaker Gateway Park already park on condo property. If an off-leash dog park were added — particularly after the city voted to mandate leashes in neighborhood parks — residents fear the issue would be exacerbated.

“They’re going to be parking on top of one another,” Bay’s Bluff resident Jay Hyde said.

Other concerns included a loss of green space, potential danger associated with off-leash dogs and a possible increase in noise.

The city is examining how to proceed with a suddenly contentious project that’s already been designed. In February, Bay’s Bluff residents met with city officials — including Parks and Recreation Director Jerry Fogle and City Commissioner Jen Ahearn-Koch — to discuss the future of the planned dog park.

Ahearn-Koch expressed concern that Bay’s Bluff residents had not been a part of the decision-making process. If officials find the concerns to be substantive, she said the city should be willing to reconsider the project.

But Ahearn-Koch said there is also support for the project from neighboring residents. She knows that not only because she presided over the public hearings regarding the dog park as a commissioner, but also because she was a part of the community conversation that preceded the approval.

Ahearn-Koch was previously president of the Tahiti Park Neighborhood Association, representing the community just north of Whitaker Gateway Park. The idea for the dog park came forward about three years ago, initially proposed by a representative for nearby retirement complex Sarasota Bay Club.

The goal was to increase activity because residents were concerned about illicit behavior in the park when it was not heavily used, Ahearn-Koch said. She said that is not as pronounced an issue today as it was three years ago, but she said there was still enthusiasm for the dog park from people living in the area.

“There’s a large part of the community that did want this,” Ahearn-Koch said.

Ahearn-Koch expressed optimism a compromise could be arranged among all parties. Bay’s Bluff residents were more skeptical, though, questioning whether the dog park could be a fit for Whitaker Gateway Park even if plans were modified.

Those residents suggested the dog park might be a better fit somewhere else. And they held out hope that city officials would take seriously their objections to a project that was, until recently, uncontroversial.

“It sounds great in theory, but the siting has to be handled in a strategic and sound manner,” Hyde said.