Supporters Make Case For Dog Park in Official Letter to City Council

Brook Run Dog Park Association has prepared a letter dated Sept. 3 for Dunwoody Mayor Mike Davis and City Council members, laying out their case to keep the dog part at its current location. The dog park supporters also included statements from two separate arborists that were hired by private citizens to assess the trees at the location. 

See one of the reports attached to this story.

Dunwoody has budget $200,000 to move the dog park to the Brook Run Peeler Road entrance. The city hired Arborguard tree care specialists in 2012, which reported that 90 trees in the dog park are dead or in poor condition. Their report showed large tree roots are exposed as a result of soil erosion and damaged by pedestrian traffic and chewing by dogs.  

The BRDPA letter says in part:

Our concern is that the current park is considered by many THE Best Dog Park in Atlanta and surrounding areas because of its size (approx. four acres) and that it is fully shaded. No other off-leash park in the area can boast these amenities. We have reviewed the new location details provided by the city’s hired consultants. Taking a four acre park and reducing it to basically one acre for large dogs and ¼ acre for small dogs will be extremely detrimental to all of the existing advantageous aspects of the current park. There are literally hundreds of people and dogs that use the park on a daily basis. Taking that many dogs and people into 25% of the present space is going to cause a great deal of problems, not the least of which will be extreme overcrowding. Additionally, while we know there will be trees in the new park, they will not provide sufficient shade for the dogs or their owners. These new shaded areas will be fenced off from traffic and will provide very little protection from the sun. When you add benches into the area for seating, insufficient space is available for the dogs to properly exercise without running into other dogs and people.

See also:

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