DOG PARK WOULD BE GOOD FOR LOCAL ECONOMY

Bren Piller / Ithaca Journal Commentary

Off-leash dog parks are now found everywhere because there are so many dog-loving retirees and families who visit or relocate to dog friendly places. Americans will spend more than $40.8 billion on pets next year, recession-resistant money, since the family dog is often a family member.

A scenic off-leash dog park is therefore most desirable for Ithaca to attract the maximum tourist and relocation dollars — clean water for dogs to swim and drink, large enough for safe socialization for dogs and their human caretakers. Safety and liability concerns can easily be addressed by proper signs and fences, and waste removal done by motivated dog walkers.

Treman Marina has been our de-facto off-leash park continuously for more than 30 years and has all the features dog walkers desire.Many who come to our dog park from surrounding communities also dine in our restaurants, shop in our markets and stores and go to our theaters. They thus bring valuable economic benefits to our community.

So why is there so much controversy over this dog park?

Agitation against the off-leash park seems to have been led not by a local resident but by a Binghamton-area lawyer who has complained to government officials, threatened litigation against the city if off-leash walkers were not ticketed and otherwise fought determinedly against the off-leash park.

Perhaps the truth of the controversy may not relate to aggressive dogs and liability, dog wastes and disturbance of birds, but rather to a complex deal involving the city, the state and possibly a real estate development. One developer recently wished to build a large 105-room hotel and 15-condominium project on state-controlled property on nearby Inlet Island. This project would bring the developer tax breaks and state incentives for environmental cleanup via New York's Brownfield program — and also some land parcels for free, after deducting costs of pollution cleanup.

In August the Common Council voted against this project, one member observing that parking there would require city money and another noting that “for a project worth between $17 million and $20 million, it would have been a considerable amount of money going back to the developer in breaks.” Residents of the area also were “overwhelmingly opposed,” according to council member Maria Coles.

Now the mayor has a new proposal — a complex deal involving the city and two state agencies: one that manages state parks and another dealing with environmental conservation. Control of the city-owned area (which contains our current dog park) goes to the state park agency, our existing dog park would then no longer exist, and the state environmental agency would exchange the Inlet Island area to the city, probably for “development.”

So do we keep the long-established and most useful off-leash dog park, with its many economic benefits to our community, as well as its social benefits, or set up for a development deal strenuously disliked by so many nearby residents?

To assuage the dog owners, the mayor has suggested a new off-leash park in an area off Cherry Street behind Wegmans, but dog owners object, claiming that poorly maintained locale, without access to clean water, is adjacent to insect-filled scrubby and dangerous woods and a homeless area.

“Follow the money!” was what Deep Throat said to the reporters investigating Watergate, back in the Nixon days. Perhaps that applies to the off-leash dog park disagreement in Ithaca also.

Let's see if Ithaca has the sense to market the virtues of our existing dog park and let it continue to bring valuable dollars and cents to our community.