Its Almost Official the Tega Cay Dog Park Will Move!
The special Tega Cay council meeting held on Monday January 14th was a standing room only crowd. Many residents came to the meeting to voice their opinion of the dog park location.
First a presentation was given by Parks and Recreation’s Charlie Funderburk on a study done for a dog park location criteria and possible city relocation sites.
Then the floor was open for public comments. The crowd was split almost in thirds. A third wanted the dog park relocated. A third wanted the dog park to stay where it is and another third did not want the dog park relocated next to their back yard.
After approximately 31 residents voiced their opinion, it was understood the current dog park was too close to a residential area. It was clear that several residents that lived near the possible relocation sites did not want the dog park relocated in their back yard. And the people who use the dog park had a good showing and understandable reasons to keep the dog park.
The council managed to create two motions out of the 3 way split. The first motion that passed was to dismiss the proposed sites that where next to residential areas.
The second motion was to limit the hours of the current dog park and have the city study the feasibility of using land next to the Gardendale development project (the other side of the river near Wal-Mart and Stonecrest) and report back to the council in 30 days for a possible quick relocation.
Larry Harper suggested before the vote to add to the second motion closing the current dog park if it could not be relocated quickly after the 30 days. But the second motion was passed without his suggestion.
So it is almost official the dog park will relocate but it will have to wait another 30 days to maybe find out when and where.
As I listened to the public’s and council’s discussions, I found it interesting that the genesis of the Tega Cay dog park was not just because dog walkers wanted a place to let their dogs run free without a lease but to have a designated place for dogs to do their thing and to try and reduce the amount of “droppings” on the walking trails and ball park fields. The council plans to pass in a second reading soon, a ban on dogs allowed on the baseball and soccer fields in the city.
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