MARYSVILLE — Not everyone is excited about the idea of an off-leash dog park on a strip of public land in Sunnyside.
Some residents who live next to a long, slim parcel off 40th Street NE behind Sunnyside Elementary School say they’d prefer the city find another place for dog owners to let their Rovers run.
“Just about everybody I’ve talked to seems to be against it,” said Jesse Thompson, who lives next to the proposed park. “A lot of people are interested in the idea of a dog park, they just don’t think this is the best spot for it.”
It’s currently illegal for dogs to run off-leash in public places in Marysville and unincorporated Snohomish County.
The Kiwanis Club received the land in a grant program from Snohomish County in 1995 and then donated it to the city with the stipulation that it eventually become a park, said Jim Ballew, Marysville parks director.
A group of residents last year formed a group called the Marysville Dog Owners Group, or M-DOG, to promote the idea of an off-leash dog park. The cost of developing the Sunnyside site is pegged at about $30,000, Ballew said. The dog group has been raising money to go toward the park and they hope to pitch in $5,000 to $10,000 of the total, Ballew said.
The $30,000 would be used for fencing, parking for 12 vehicles off 40th Street NE, an improved trail, drinking fountains for dogs and their owners, and a surface of dirt and wood chips.
The city is also considering the Strawberry Fields playground at 6001 152nd Street NE as a possible location for an off-leash park, and Snohomish County is considering such a park at Mother Nature’s Window at 100th Street NE and 59th Drive NE in unincorporated Marysville, director Tom Tiegen has said.
It’s better to have a couple of smaller sites than one larger one, Ballew said.
Doug Buell, a founding member of the dog group who also works as a spokesman for the city, said the group has pledged to keep the park clean and keep an eye out for vandalism.
“We’re neutral on where the park goes,” Buell said. “Wherever the park gets built, we will be responsible for stewardship.”
Thompson said that’s fine, but he and others would like to see a lighter use of the land, such as trails only, he said. A dog park, he said, “would detract from the visual appeal.”
Ballew said it’s possible something else could be developed there. But the land is too small for a trail park at only 800 feet long by 180 feet wide and slopes too much for a playground. It’s flanked by new homes on the east and the school on the west.
The residents are also concerned that access to the park’s paved trail, and to the school’s playground, would be cut off by fencing for the dog park. Currently, a narrow, paved trail runs the length of the strip, with access from two cul-de-sacs and to the playground. Neighborhood children often use the trail to reach the playground and its baseball diamond, soccer field and running track, he said.
Ballew said installing gates in the fences to maintain access would be a possibility. The city is expected to take a closer look at the issue early in the new year, he said.
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