Chevy Chase Village leaders are looking to carve out a place for dogs to run and play freely at Brookville Road Park.
But only a select few pooches will be welcome inside the fence, under their current plan.
Village leaders are considering a policy that will go hand-in-hand with improvement plans for the park. Under the proposal, only dogs that reside inside the village or the Village of Martin’s Additions would have access to the exercise area. The village would set up a registration system, and dog owners would have to secure membership to gain admittance. And to prove their bona fides, they’d have to fasten a brightly colored membership tag to the dog’s collar before venturing into the park enclosure, the drafted policy states.
Village Manager Shana Davis-Cook said because of Brookville Road Park’s location near Connecticut Avenue, officials believe limiting access would be the right move.
“There’s a high likelihood others will find out about it being a dog park, and we wanted to make sure it didn’t get overrun, as some municipalities have experienced,” she said.
To prevent overcrowding, the city of Rockville uses a licensing system with an access code for its dog park. Greenbelt in Prince George’s County also limits its dog park to city residents.
Chevy Chase Village leaders decided to create a dog exercise space after some residents voiced frustration about the number of off-leash dogs at the park, which is located near the intersection of Brookville Road and Quincy Street. Although owners are currently required to keep their dogs on a leash, many have been ignoring the rule and letting their pups roam freely ever since the village put up a chain-link fence around Brookville Road Park, Davis-Cook said.
“We want to embrace how the community utilizes the park, so that’s why we’ve been looking to create a space for dogs,” she said.
Village officials are undecided about how much of the park should be reserved for the dog exercise area, but they’re thinking of setting aside between two-thirds and three-quarters of the property for that purpose.
The village’s interest in putting crushed stone or gravel on the exercise area surface has raised concerns; some residents are worried that the substance might contain harmful materials. Davis-Cook said the materials are being considered as options because they’re low-maintenance and often incorporated into dog parks.
The village has already held one public hearing on the project, and a second is scheduled for May 8.
In addition to fencing off the dog area, the village also wants to do landscaping, add benches and install curbing. A high-end estimate of the project cost is about $78,000, and village leaders hope to have the upgrades finished in the fall, Davis-Cook said.
