Sandy Springs dog owners still waiting for a park

Disappointed dog owners in Sandy Springs have a bone to pick with city hall.

Three years after it gained independence from Fulton County, the city remains one of the largest in metro Atlanta without a dedicated dog park.

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Phil Skinner /pskinner@ajc.com

Henry Dan of Sandy Springs plays with his dogs (from left) Freckles, Three, and Scooter.

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In recent years, the cities of Clarkston, Stone Mountain, Canton and Peachtree City, among others, have created park space for dogs.

In Sandy Springs, residents have access to local and federal parkland. But their dogs are bound to leashes.

City officials have promised a dog park, and set aside $25,000 for it, but a permanent site has been pulled twice since 2007. The first time was because neighbors complained.

In the latest move, City Council members in December agreed to scratch the dog park from a list of improvements planned for a previously wooded portion of the Morgan Falls city park. Once the land was cleared, revealing a stunning view of the Chattahoochee River, the city decided the park should be for people.

A temporary dog park should be under construction soon, on another riverfront site, just south of the Morgan Falls Dam. That park, once fenced, will be available while the city seeks out more spacious alternatives, said Councilman Rusty Paul. One possibility, he said, is land underneath Georgia Power lines.

“It is a priority,” Paul said. “But do we want to spend the resources that are available on something that is ultimately inadequate, or do we want to see if we can find something that is a solution for owners with breeds that need larger space?”

But dog park advocates worry the city is not committed, because it has not made a priority of finding a suitable, permanent spot. Much smaller communities have managed to do that, said Ali Harris, leader of the now-defunct Sandy Springs Pooch Park Pals.

“I think we’re going to get a pitiful, tiny, spot of land,” she said.

The Pooch Park Pals, a nonprofit, raised donations and commitments for a dog park in 2007. But the momentum came to a stop, Harris said, once the city abandoned the original site at Ridgeview Park, just south of I-285.

In 2007, the council agreed to move a site for the proposed dog park from Ridgeview because neighbors near the park complained about the potential for traffic and noise from barking dogs.

One of those residents, John Willis, is a prominent homebuilder. His company submitted the low bid among nine companies to prepare the dog park for the site at Morgan Falls. Although John Willis Homes was awarded a contract in July 2008 for $210,142, the city paid the company just $166,000 for tree clearing and site preparation work, because the dog park was moved, said Assistant City Manager Steve Rapson.

Dog park supporters say they are frustrated that their dogs still have no permanent park, two years after the city set aside money, and identified Ridgeview as the best probable spot.

Henry Dan, a resident with three dogs, said the cost of the dog park could have been kept low if it stayed at Ridgeview Park. City officials moved it to Morgan Falls, knowing it would more expensive in that spot, he said.

“Now, it’s too good to waste on dogs,” Dan said, paraphrasing the city argument.