Mayor: Moving the Dog Park is the Right Thing to Do

Dunwoody hired arborists after the decision was made to move Brook Run Dog Park. 

“The first time I walked through there I was appalled at the damage to the ecosystem,” said Mayor Mike Davis. “So I asked our guys even though it was already on the plans to move it and City Council had already voted to move it; I asked for an analysis from an arborist to find what was actually going on here, and how bad is this." 

In June 2011, Dunwoody decided the dog park should be relocated to reduce erosion and compaction of trees at its current location. Dunwoody hired Arborguard tree care specialists in 2012, which reported that 90 trees in the dog park are dead or in poor condition. 

Davis believes the site was a sensitive area before it became a dog park. Now the organics that normally hold moisture and drains water into the soil for the trees has been affected, he explained to Patch. “When you remove all of that, and then compact the soil because dogs are running around so much that water doesn’t get to the [tree] roots; it just runs right off into the creek,” he said.

Carl Neigoot with Brook Run Dog Park Association has said to the Mayor via email that he will commit $5,000 to the replacement of trees if within seven years all the trees in the current dog park die, due directly to the use of the area by dogs. 

In August, during a community meeting on the dog park, Neigoot said arborists, who were hired independently, say the dog park environment has not been harmed by the compaction of the soil and waste from the dogs.

“Dog waste has nothing to do with it,” said Davis. “This thing has been built on a hill. The soil is compacted. If you go out there you will see the tree roots have been exposed, and on the bottom two or three feet of most of the trees, the bark has been scraped out because of all the animals out there.”

The Mayor believes that most people who use the dog park are not Dunwoody residents. He’s only met one person from Dunwoody while visiting the dog park over the last year and half, he said, but Davis expects that to change at the new location.

“It will be state of the art,” he said.

The new location will be at the Peeler Road entrance. Use of the new dog park will be rotated periodically to check and treat the grounds.

“Basically what happened was the City Council was deciding between no dog park in Dunwoody, which is what a lot of cities have done…or leaving the dog park where it is and just let the trees die, and let someone else worry about it in 10 years,” the Mayor said.

City Council considers the new location a compromise. Davis said they decided, "Let’s move it and do it correctly with the industry standards that people expect you to follow when people build these dog parks.” 

See also:

Park Supporter Continues to Urge Mayor for Compromise

'Slow Down or Stop This Locomotive' to Move Brook Run Dog Park

Letter: Dunwoody Resident Desires Response on Brook Run Dog Park

Sandy Springs Resident Urges Dunwoody to Keep Brook Run Dog Park Open