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Politics & Government

Dog Park Committee Takes Lyndale Park Sites Off Table

Strong support for Roberts Bird Sanctuary, which would have been near one of the sites, influenced the committee's decision.

The 6th District Dog Park Citizen Advisory Committee(CAC) removed two sites in Lyndale Park from consideration for a dog park Monday. Areas near the Roberts Bird Sanctuary and Peace Garden will no longer be examined. That leaves just the site in the parking lot of the park board's Southside Operation Center on the table—although the CAC is expected to add more sites at upcoming meetings.

The CAC was established to advise the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board on the best location for an off-leash dog area in Southwest Minneapolis. The committee will examine these locations, then report back to the park board, which will make the final decision. A deadline has been extended.

Members of the CAC had tried previously to eliminate the two Lyndale Park sites a couple of meetings earlier, but had been unsuccessful.  

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At Monday's meeting, Constance Pepin, the Linden Hills representative, gave a presentation about the park board's partnership with the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis, the East Harriet-Farmstead Neighborhood Association and the Linden Hills Neighborhood Council to revitalize Roberts Bird Sanctuary, which would have been adjacent to one of the eliminated sites. Members of those groups asked the board to postpone the timeline for looking at potential dog park sites near the sanctuary in order for the long-term management plan for the sanctuary to be completed.  

Following Pepin’s presentation, the CAC voted to eliminate both sites in Lyndale Park. “The sites were unsuitable and should never have been under consideration,” said Kit Healy, from Audubon. “However, the outpouring of support for Roberts Bird Sanctuary was heartening. We're happy to be able to focus now on the revitalization project and we invite the public to join us.”

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The CAC wasn’t originally going to look at eliminating sites until after all of the criteria was finalized. “I think it was the right decision,” Bourn said. “The board wouldn’t have supported those sites.” However, Bourn is concerned that the  CAC dismissed the sites before the criteria for looking at other sites was established, which might make the process for considering future sites more complicated.

While no other locations have been officially submitted, Susan Gray, who has been attending the CAC meetings (although she is not a committee member) said that there is some talk about a vacant lot at 36th Street and Nicollet Avenue, across from U-Haul and the bottom of the hill at Lyndale Farmstead Park as potential sites.

Citizen Advisory Committee Establishes Criteria
In addition to eliminating those two sites from consideration, the CAC pared down the criteria. The criteria list falls under the main headings of Ease of Access/Usage, Safety, Geographic Features, Environmental Effects, Neighborhood Effects and MPRB requirements (see PDF).  

There wasn't much debate about the different criteria, Bourn said. Although the committee discussed the board's earlier failure to consider the historical context of Martin Luther King Park, which the park board removed from consideration for a dog park in February. The CAC ultimately decided to use the following language under Neighborhood Effects criteria: “Adds value and becomes an asset to the community.”

At the next meeting on May 2 at Martin Luther King Park at 6:30, the CAC will look into prioritizing each of the criteria.  

Membership of Committee Finalized
The other thing of note that happened at the meeting was that it was decided the Rev. Mary Flowers Spratt would be the representative of both the Regina, Central, Field and Bryant Neighborhoods and the African-American community, as nominated by the Urban League.

CAC member Art Seratoff had moved to have the CAC accept his two nominations of the African American Community, Wayne Glanton and Greg McMoore, but the CAC voted to keep the membership as is.  

To keep up on discussions about the 6th Dog Park CAC, the public can visit their online forum.  Non-CAC members can’t post on the forum, but all discussions are in public view.  

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