MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — By May of next year, dogs will be able to run freely within a fenced, forested off-leash dog park.
The City Council Monday, Aug. 6. approved a recommendation by the Recreation and Parks Advisory Commission that will allow creation of a 1-acre dog park just northeast of the Recreation Pavilion next to Terrace Creek Park.
“We really want to have a place where we can let our animals go and participate in a positive manner,” said Ann Bjornstad, a member of the Off Leash Dog Park Task Force, established last year to examine options for the park.
Not everyone was quite as excited about the prospect of a designated dog park.
Robin Lesher of Mountlake Terrace said she’s concerned about the environmental impacts to the 60-acre Terrace Creek Park, which she called “an ecological jewel” in the city. The park, with its trails and trees, is home to many species of birds and to salmon. Lesher, an ecologist with the U.S. Forest Service called it “one of the last refuges we have for wildlife habitat.”
Though the dog park site is not inside of a wetland, it is within 200 feet of one, Planning and Development Director Shane Hope wrote in a June memo.
That means an environmental review is required before any permits for development can be issued.
“Depending on the dog park’s final location and the scope of the project, specific environmental mitigation measures may be either required or encouraged,” Hope wrote.
A July 12 memo from Recreation and Parks director Don Sarcletti says installation and permitting is estimated to cost $52,000.
Annual maintenance and operation costs are $5,500. Of that, the city would cover $2,400 for waste disposal services.
A new, soon-to-be-created nonprofit, Friends of Mountlake Terrace Off Leash Dog Park, will pay the remaining $3,100 a year and also will provide in-kind volunteer help.
“We’ll be able to put our money where our dogs are,” Bjornstad said.
Resident Dave Mercer asked why the council would sign off on spending $52,000 to establish a dog park when a 2003 recreation and parks survey showed citizens were more interested in adding restrooms, picnic tables and shelters.
Task force member Melanie Granfors said the creation of the nonprofit “friends” group is a next step in the process, along with city environmental review and permitting this fall.
She said the task force’s biggest goal in creating a nonprofit is to “foster relationships that (say) citizens can join with government on cooperative projects.”
Mike Angrick, task force chair, said the park would be “something we can be really proud of” and urged residents and council members to visit Seattle’s North Acres Park to see what’s in store for Mountlake Terrace.
Edmonds City Councilwoman Mauri Moore said off-leash dog parks are ideal for social interaction.
“Odd as it sounds, an off-leash dog park is one of the few places where people actually interact,” she said.
City Council candidate Sharon Maynard, who is challenging incumbent Michelle Robles, urged the council to consider creating a matching funds program that would encourage neighbors to take ownership of projects like the dog park. She said the city of Seattle has a matching program for neighborhood groups.
“You keep reaping the benefits” of neighbors’ sweat equity, Maynard said.
Leonard French, who is challenging mayor pro-tem Laura Sonmore for her council seat, said the city should not hold dog parks to a different standard than it holds other activities — such as disc golf — that have an impact on critical areas.
He said in past years, some new developments “clearly violated” the city’s critical areas ordinance, which protects habitat. He reiterated his opinion that the council should only take a vote after it knows how much projects will cost.
Robles, Mayor Jerry Smith and Councilman John Zambrano were out-voted on a Robles motion that would have delayed approval of the dog park until after an environmental review.
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