MVCCA Committee Votes On Westgrove Dog Park Resolution

The MVCCA Environment and Recreation committee voted 10 to three Thursday night to approve a resolution to use Westgrove park as an interim off-leash dog park.

An interim dog park would allow dogs to run without a leash in a designated area without making any permanent changes to the property and the Pumphouse Association for Canine Kindness (PACK) would voluntarily monitor the site. A permanent dog park would have to be approved in the master plan and would require extensive land surveys, fencing and use government funds to build and manage.

Laura Grape, senior environmental planner for the Northern Virginia Regional Commission,  gave a presentation about the sources of bacterial contributions to local streams and answered questions about the potential effects of dog feces.

"A dog park is a controlled environment. If managed well, dog owners will pick up after their pets instead of leaving it on a sidewalk, above a storm drain somewhere, say," Grape said. "If you ever see something that doesn't look quite right being put into a storm drain, call the Fairfax County non-emergency number to report it."

 Community leaders weighed in on the proposed resolution, with several community association representatives speaking positively about the resolution.

"While we haven't made a formal decision, the majority of the board is for the use," Belle View condos representative Ellen Young said. "People from other associations use our lawns to walk their dogs and don't pick up. A designated park would help stop that from happening."

Several citizens surveyed their neighbors feelings about the dog park in late February. Out of those who responded 51 percent were dog owners and 61 percent voted for the interim park, while 28 percent responded indifferent to the interim park.

"We are very aware of the presence of and issues connected to Westgrove Park," Randy Torgison said. "We do not view the use of the park while a master plan is created as damaging."

Several amendments were made to the resolution, the most debate one was whether or not a fence should be a requirement of the interim park. Proponents wanted the dogs to be in a secure area to stop them from running into the road or into protected nature areas.

Opponents of the fence just want their dogs to be able to run leash free in clearly delineated areas without fear of being ticketed. They also did not want be saddled with the cost of a several thousand dollar fence that could be removed after Fairfax County forms a master plan.

Sally Kiefer of River Towers Condominiums  proposed a second resolution against the interim park, but her proposal was voted down 2 to 11. She argued that proposing the interim dog park would distract Fairfax County from creating the master plan, but she couldn't claim to have her community associations backing.

"I'm not saying I'm against dogs," Kiefer said. "The interim park will damage the chances of going forward with other plans. Other groups need to be given the chance to request use of the land."

An interim dog park would allow dogs to run off the leash in a designated area without making any permanent changes to the property and the Pumphouse Association for Canine Kindness (PACK) would voluntarily monitor the site. A permanent dog park would have to be approved in the master plan and would require extensive land surveys, fencing and use government funds to build and manage.

The MVCCA put the resolution to the vote at nearly 9:30 p.m. and voted 10 to 3 in favor of it. The resolution next goes to the whole MVCCA council meeting later this month.