austindogandcat.com
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Tuesday, December 10, 2013
Excellent Austin Chronicle coverage on Auditorium Shores dog park controversy
Then There's This: Turf Fight at Auditorium Shores
Dog owners challenge city's plan to shrink off-leash play space
BY AMY SMITH, FRI., DEC. 6, 2013
Auditorium Shores makeover plan would limit the park's off-leash space to the western end.
For a city that strives to be on the cutting edge of all things trendy, Austin lags behind a national shift toward creating more off-leash dog parks – what the Trust for Public Land has called the fastest-growing species of city parks in America, with Portland, Ore. leading the pack. Indeed, according to advocacy group Friends of Austin Dog Parks, Austin has steadily downsized its off-leash acreage while other cities have added more space. The shrinkage argument is amping up in advance of a Dec. 10 meeting of the Parks and Recreation Board, which is set to vote on a proposed redevelopment plan for Auditorium Shores. That plan calls for reducing the existing 18 acres of off-leash space to about four acres (up from the originally proposed three acres).
The iconic shoreline park has been a popular dog-romping spot for several decades. The stretch of open space has also featured in the city's long-running discussions about upgrading and improving the park as part of the Town Lake Metropolitan Park master plan process, but funding shortages hampered those endeavors until concert promoters C3 Presents stepped up last year with a $3.5 million donation. Then it was full speed ahead on the Shores.
Under a partnership that includes C3, the Austin Parks Foundation and PARD, the makeover calls for new grass and an irrigation system, shoreline erosion controls, and a newly segmented park with a "main lawn" event venue on the east end, off-limits to all dogs, a "middle lawn" for other activities (leashed dogs only), and on the west end, an off-leash space with lake "launches" and other bells and whistles that dog advocates say they didn't ask for. PARD's Marty Stump, who's overseeing the park project, said some minor revisions to the off-leash park (including a "modest increase in size") will be released Friday as part of the backup material for the Dec. 10 meeting.
Assuming the plan passes out of the Parks Board, it would go before City Council on Dec. 12. But prickly proposals of this nature tend to get fussed over and delayed in order to, if nothing else, shine more light on the process. That would be the fair thing to do at this point, considering that Council already voted in June to alter the off-leash boundaries for Auditorium Shores, apparently without public input, and without a dissenting voice on the dais. Strange behavior for a council that likes to play up the city's no-kill status. The vote was 7-0, taken on the day Council formally accepted the $3.5 million donation from C3. (Here's where I should note that PARD officials and C3 insist that the monetary gift had absolutely no influence on the decision to amend the 1977 off-leash ordinance.)
Read more click here.
PARD hearing on leash-free dog park at Auditorium Shores
#ATX Parks & Rec Board now meeting about #AuditoriumShores. Room is at capacity, many people standing outside pic.twitter.com/v6JOVpyL2k
— Ashley Goudeau (@AshleyG_KVUE) December 11, 2013
KXAN provides balanced round-up on Auditorium Shores leash-free park controversy
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AUSTIN (KXAN) - The Austin City Council is set to vote Thursday on design changes for the Auditorium Shores Dog Park.
The proposed modifications will first be reviewed by the Parks and Recreation Board during their meeting Tuesday.
The new design comes after many people were concerned about the reduced area for dogs off their leashes.
The main concern for Parks and Recreation has been safety issues raised by having off leash dogs.
Many also believe the plans were solely what C3 Presents, the company funding the project, wants.
C3 is expected to donate $3.5 million over a 5-year-period.
The new plan adds an additional 1.45 acres of off leash zone. It also adds 350 feet of open run area.
Making those changes caused a 35 foot reduction in water access.
No dogs will be allowed on the event lawn once the changes are made.
If the new plan is approved on Thursday, construction of the off-leash area is expected to begin next April.
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