Group seeks dog park at Palm Villa site

By Steve Estes

A small group of Big Pine residents are asking Monroe County to turn a small neighborhood park in the Palm Villa Subdivision into a dog park.

Palm Villa Park, located off Palm Drive in the middle of the island, has been used in recent years as a playground for area youngsters. The equipment, however, is starting to age and the park isn’t being maintained as well as it once was as the county’s attention shifts to the new community park on the north end of Sands Subdivision.

Michelle Adams, leader of the group, said they would form an organization to raise money to fence the park for containment of the dogs, and would help with maintenance of the facility.

“All we need from this board is some idea where we go from here and your approval to pursue this,” said Adams.

“You will need to check the zoning of that parcel to see what’s permitted, and you’ll have to solicit a resolution from the county commission to change the existing ordinance on the park that’s there,” said Johnny King, facilities manager for the county’s Public Works Division and a consultant for the park board.

The existing ordinance controlling the park limits the hours of operation from sunrise to sunset and doesn’t permit dogs running free, which is why the fence becomes an issue.

“The fence will cost between $12 and $16 per linear foot because you have to put the bottom rail at ground level to prevent dogs from escaping,” said King. “If the county approves it as a dog park, we will have to supply the waste bags for people to use to clean up after the dogs.”

King said it may also require a contract for flea and tick control.

The county has already discussed diminishing the operations at the Palm Villa Park because of the minimal use it receives since the opening of the new facility. They planned to remove the old playground equipment and turn the park into a passive recreation area with some seating and maybe a gazebo.

Adams said the group they would form, “And we already have many people willing to take part in this,” would also work on raising money for benches and shade structures, including planting some trees.

Board Chairman Steve Miller said the best way to approach the issue with the county would be to form the organization, prepare some conceptual drawings of what they want to accomplish, and present a business plan on how the park would be run and maintained in lieu of county dollars.

The county has slashed its maintenance budgets in recent months and cut back on manpower to alleviate pressure on the county’s revenues.

Adams said she had already spoken to the neighboring property owners who had expressed no reservations about the possibility of having a dog park next door.

“We can certainly, and probably would certainly, endorse this project to the county commission, but we can’t do that until we see some conceptual plan of what you intend to do,” said Board Meber Jim Boilini.

The board meets again in March at Big Coppitt. Members asked the group to have a conceptual plan ready by then so they could make a decision on whether to recommend the project to the Board of County Commissioners.