District Pushes Rules For Health Reasons
By Elissa Silverman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
MayB'lene is getting a little chunky these days. She hasn't been able to stretch her legs and run free.
Half bichon frise, half cockapoo, the 7-year-old pet is "starting to look like a furry coffee table," owner Kathy Silva said, as the two stood on a grassy field near McLean Gardens in Northwest Washington.
Dog owners such as Silva, who is co-founder of a 600-member group called DCDOG, want the District to set aside public land for dogs to run off leash.
Now the city has come up with a set of proposed regulations for dog parks.
Among the proposed rules: A dog park must be at least 200 feet from businesses, school playgrounds and houses. The area must be 10,000 square feet -- a quarter of an acre -- or more, take up no more than 25 percent of a park and have a slope of no more than 5 percent.
And the Health Department must certify that there are no rats within five blocks. In a city.
The city says the rules are needed for environmental reasons, as well as to prevent humans from being infected with diseases associated with dog waste.
But many dog owners are unhappy, claiming requirements such as the rat-free certification would be impossible to meet in an urban environment.
In effect, they claim, the proposed regulations mean there will be no dog parks in the District.
"I don't think any city can certify that," said Mindy Moretti, president of Friends of Walter Pierce Park, where the city has authorized an experimental dog park. "I talked with people in Seattle and New York, and they just think that's laughable."
The city has planned a series of public meetings in neighborhoods across the city to get feedback. The first is tonight at the Chevy Chase Community Center. The rules have been a hot topic of conversation at the city's informal dog parks, and owners predict hundreds of irate residents will show up to register outrage.
"We are being considered second-class citizens because we are dog owners," Silva said.
Demand for dog parks is increasing, particularly in such gentrifying areas as Petworth and Capitol Hill. Along with a desire for granite countertops and stainless steel appliances, many affluent homeowners want dogs and a legal place for them to exercise without a leash, as the District's strict leash law requires. A few unofficial dog parks exist in the city.
With open space at a premium, the dog park issue has pitted owners and their furry companions against community gardeners, children, parents and residents who might get in the way of a snarling, charging dog.
Regina Williams, a spokeswoman for the city's parks department, said several city agencies came up with the list of regulations. She said they were guided by similar rules in such jurisdictions as Arlington County and Alexandria, which have a number of dog parks.
The rules threaten the experimental dog park at Walter Pierce, where the smell of garlic wafts from a nearby Middle Eastern restaurant. A few years ago, the dog park was established in the southwest corner of the Adams Morgan park, away from the soccer field and tot lot.
A wire fence marks the border. Dogs and owners pass through double chain-link gates, in place to prevent an easy escape.
Claire McHenry, who comes almost every day with Stella, a chow-shepherd mix, said dog parks promote the health of owners as well as of their four-legged companions.
"You get to know all the dogs pretty quickly. Eventually, you get to know the people," said McHenry, who is involved with an Adams Morgan dog advocacy group.
D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who wrote the law directing the mayor to establish rules for dog parks, said the proposed regulations "need work."
But the rules have some fans.
"They'll protect everybody," said Linda Blount Berry, vice president of the Newark Street Community Garden, which borders the area near McLean Gardens where Silva wants to create a dog park.
"We are not against dog parks, but we want them on an appropriate site where they do no harm to green spaces or pose a health and safety threat to parents and children -- or organic gardens."
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