What To Do About Fleet Peeples Dog Park

The saga over Fleet Peeples Dog Park has literally gone on for years. Many board members from both the City of Winter Park, and The Friends of Fleet Peeples Park have come and gone. The park has remained, as well as the ongoing bickering between the two entities. There has been a lot of confusion and miscommunication about the intent of the two sides. To put it bluntly, neither group has done a thorough job bringing forth the true intentions of either side and making the public aware of those true intentions. There have been rumors the City of Winter Park was going to sell the property. That has been vehemently denied. There have been accusations the park was going to be illegally closed down, that was not a true fact. There has been less than cordial behavior at the Public Hearings. And, no love lost between the two sides. I've observed things for years, and am going to give you my answer to putting this tireless "Soap Opera" to bed!

Move the Park

Here's why I've come to this conclusion. I've talked to City of Winter Park board members and have listened to their issues at length. I've been told they want to keep the park open and working for dog lovers, but they have issues that cost money and create health issues, safety issues, and environmental issues. The number one issue I've understood them to have is that people aren't picking up their dog's poop. It costs a lot of money for the City of Winter Park to deal with it, and it is an environmental concern with decomposing poop running off into the lake. This raises E Coli issues and creates problems for the lake. They are concerned with dogs entering the park that are not properly vaccinated and could potentially spread diseases to other dogs. Additionally, the issue of dogs fighting that are not on leash and controlled by their owner. Budget shortfalls and issues with enforcement have created numerous dilemmas for the City.

The Friends of Fleet Peeples Park is a non-profit group that has helped to raise money for park improvements. According to the City of Winter Park their role is to enforce the leash requirements on the weekends, and to educate the public about cleaning and caring for the park. Board members have told me these two things have never been done. The group has had less and less success raising money, they've been more combative at public hearings, their plan to redesign the park is unrealistically expensive, and they don't want to park to be used for anything but a dog park.

The City of Winter Park has to answer to the citizens of Winter Park. Technically, they don't have to do anything to accommodate people from any other city or state. They don't have to allow the Friends of Fleet Peeples to have a say about anything. Frankly, I think they should consider the positive impact of visitors from other cities. As I pointed out in another article, the visitors to Fleet spend money at nearby gas stations, convenience stores, and fast food restaurants. These things positively impact and contribute to the Winter Park economy. This is why I've been against dog park user fees.

The City of Winter Park has considered moving the park back from the water and fencing it in making it a smaller part of the overall park. They want to make it a multi-use park and accomodate things like triathalons, possible rowing competitions, and other things for human use. I think this is an unrealistic goal. The fact is the City of Winter Park has looked to the Friends of Fleet Peeples to enforce the leash requirements and keep the poop cleaned up. This has failed. Moving the park back and fencing it in isn't going to get people who frequent the park to comply with the leash requirements, nor will they be anymore apt to clean up their dog's poop. Poor precedents have been set and at this point, trying to enforce the leash requirements by writing people tickets will be a PR nightmare. Thinking a fence will keep people from letting their dogs go into the water, and stop their dogs from pooping all over the park, is a very weak expectation.

The only way to stop this endless bickering, and end this power struggle, is to move the dog park to another location. Plain and simple. I was told about a piece of land off Lee Road called the Tree Farm. I took a look at it, and allocating a part of the ten acres to creating the finest dog park in Central Florida is what I suggest. The City of Winter Park has also talked about another piece of land at another location I can't recall, but it was a split piece of property. I'd strongly suggest using the Tree Farm because of its central location and extensive tree cover. I advised them that if they move the park, that they should build the finest dog park anywhere. Make it one with the best amenities, and an example to the country of a well planned park.

Return Fleet to a multi-use people park and end this "Soap Opera!" As I've stated before, fighting for years over a dog park is ridiculous! It is not a nuclear waste dump!

http://www.orlandodogparks.com/index.php