Graphic from the City of Edgewater
It’s been a little over a week since the temporary dog park was created at Citizen’s Park in Edgewater. Community surveys and feedback to City Councilmembers have shown a desire from the community for a space where dogs can safely be off-leash. Edgewater Parks and Recreation responded to these desires by creating a temporary dog park to gauge interest and learn from its usage.
On Nextdoor concerns have started to arise around the safety of children at nearby Edgewater Elementary School. Here’s what one staff member at Edgewater Elementary posted on Nextdoor:
I work at Edgewater Elem. We have been calling Edgewater Police or school security almost daily the last couple of weeks. Yesterday, a dog chased one of our students on the playground and then the dog took a student’s coat and ran with it into the park. When our employee went to get the coat she asked the owner, a woman, to leash her dog. The woman’s response was that if the kids were not running, the dog would not have been attracted to the playground. Come on! It was recess time!!! I was so happy when I learned that there is now a dog park! And now I’m even more frustrated when people continue to have their dogs off leash in the park and especially near our playground. I’m glad to hear the Edgewater Police are cracking down. The community went to the city, asked for a dog park, and got one! Yeah!! Now please use it and keep your dogs on leash outside the park. By the way, our school resource officer said that people who do not have students at our school and are on school property can be charged with trespassing.
The Edgewater Police Department also posted the message below on their Facebook Page:
The City of Edgewater and its police department would like to remind everyone to follow these rules. The location of the temporary dog park shares a common boundary with Edgewater Elementary School. The kids are often outside during their recess period. Let’s all work together to keep them safe at the same time while enjoying the new park attraction. Please do not have your pets off-leash outside of the dog park area. This includes the other areas of the park. EPD will be enforcing Leash Law violations.
What are your thoughts on the temporary dog park at Citizen’s Park?
Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.
The fence around the temporary space is not staked down at the bottom. The first time I visited three dogs snuck out crawling under it. Just stake the fence down and everything should be fine One suggestion, perhaps have a couple of time periods for smaller dogs and another for larger and active dogs.