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Dog park could open 'almost immediately'

The park, nearly 2 acres, would occupy part of Carolyn Meeker Park. The $150,000 project began with enterprising elementary students.

By BILL COATS
Published January 19, 2007

Michael Strickland has two golden retrievers, Kodi and Happy. Antonio Pereira has a pair of boxers, Duke and Ginger.

The two boys, both 11-year-old sixth-graders at Martinez Middle School, listened to a progress report Tuesday on plans for a new dog park in Lutz and had the same reaction: "Pretty cool."

That's good, because Michael and Antonio helped launch the idea a year ago.

"I was pretty surprised that it was this big," said Michael, looking at plans on an aerial photo.

The dog park, nearly 2 acres, is planned around the banks of a retention pond at Carolyn Meeker Park, a previously undeveloped county park on the south end of Lutz's old downtown.

Hearing scarcely any complaints in Tuesday night's meeting, the county's parks director said it could open "almost immediately."

"It wouldn't take more than a couple of weeks to put the fences up," said Mark Thornton, director of the county's Parks, Recreation and Conservation Department. That assumes the park would open with temporary restrooms and parking.

"I look forward to a ribbon-cutting in just a few months," said County Commissioner Ken Hagan, who squeezed funds for the $150,000 project from the county budget.

Hillsborough has dog parks in Mango and near Leto High School. Thornton, who takes his miniature dachshunds to the Mango park, hopes to open new dog parks this year at Logan Gate, Apollo Beach and Lutz.

The Lutz idea originated a few blocks away at Lutz Elementary School. A group of then-fifth-graders in Judy Alvarez's gifted class, including Antonio and Michael, considered how to campaign for park improvements at Nye Park, one of Lutz's oldest. They considered vending machines, fences, and soccer and track facilities. But a dog park won out.

The children sent a survey to all of Lutz Elementary's 700 families, which drew only a handful of negative responses. They met with county parks officials, then made a pitch last May at a County Commission meeting.

"I told them that I loved the idea, and I would do everything I could to see it happen," said Hagan, whose district covers north Hillsborough County. After persuading fellow commissioners to budget the money, Hagan suggested Meeker Park, because Nye Park's space is heavily used.

County parks employees already had developed a dog area within Lake Park, off N Dale Mabry Highway. But that activity displeased the landowner there, the city of St. Petersburg, parks spokesman John Brill said. St. Petersburg asked that the dog area be closed.

Like Lake Park, Meeker Park is on leased land. The Florida Department of Transportation bought it a decade ago for a retention pond as DOT contractors six-laned U.S. 41. Landowners refused to subdivide the land, so the DOT bought 8 acres, including a large swamp, then agreed to lease it to the county.

The current proposal will use only a fifth of the land, at the north end of Meeker Park.

The park will include a small restroom building, a picnic shelter and chain-link fencing. The picnic area will divide a 1-acre large dog area and a 0.6-acre small dog area, each with a dog-washing station and a "timeout" enclosure.

Alvarez said the experience had been a strong one for her students, who addressed the commission on a day inflamed by a debate over school impact fees.

"They saw where anybody would get up and call the commissioners to task and say anything they wanted," Alvarez said. "It really opened their eyes."

But Alvarez worried the kids may have gotten a false lesson in how smoothly their dog park fell into place. "They're going to think that everything they want to do is going to be easy."

Bill Coats can be reached at 813 269-5309 or coats@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 18, 2007, 08:12:19]