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Letter to the editor

Parking good for a bark in the park

By TIMES STAFF
Published July 13, 2007

	Eileen Baumbach of Largo, and her terrier Popeye, rear, and Ed Murphy of Clearwater and his terrier Star Shine spend Tuesday afternoon in the Crest Lake Park dog park.
[Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes] The Doggy Days parking lot opened earlier this month with 37 spots. It is part concrete, part grass. The money came from a $150,000 federal grant.

When Clearwater's dog park opened four years ago, dogs had a ... well, they had a field day. So did dog owners. Cars, SUVs, vans, pickups - they lined the curb on S Glenwood Avenue, the street closest to Crest Lake Park's dog run.

Clearwater doesn't have the best track record when it comes to creating public parking. But for the doggie nation, the city stepped up:

• Summer 2002: The city buys the Park Lake Motel at S Glenwood and Gulf to Bay Boulevard, demolishes it the following January. Money to do this - $525,000 - came from impact fees paid by commercial and residential developers.
   
  
• Winter 2003: Dog park opens. Pet owners start parking on the vacant lot where motel stood. The turf is mix of grass, weeds and sand. Not the best.
   
  
• Three months ago: City breaks ground on motel lot to build parking. Crews grade the lot, landscape it, create lot that is part concrete, part grass. Money to do this - $150,000 - comes from federal grant.
   
  
• July 3: Doggy Days' parking lot opens, with 37 spots. No property local tax money was used. Cost per space: $18,243.

[Last modified July 13, 2007, 07:44:43]