A City Hall panel is pawing at the idea of creating an area for off-leash dogs in Park City that would be much larger than the dog park that now exists at the Quinn’s Junction sports complex.
The Recreation Advisory Board, which influences City Hall decisions concerning facilities and programs, has discussed the possibility of an off-leash area for dogs and is scheduled to address Mayor Jack Thomas and the Park City Council at a meeting on Thursday. The Recreation Advisory Board and the elected officials are expected to talk about other topics such as an idea to expand the Park City Ice Arena as well. The discussion is scheduled to start at 5:15 p.m. and last 30 minutes in the City Council chambers at the Marsac Building. The City Council is not scheduled to make formal decisions, but the elected officials could signal their intention.
A report submitted to the elected officials in anticipation of the meeting says there is a “high unmet need by the community” for an area where dogs are allowed to be off leashes. Leash laws require dogs to be on leashes when they are in public in Park City and surrounding Summit County. The only public places where dogs are allowed to be off leashes are the designated dog parks in the area.
City Hall offered limited details early in the week, but the report discusses a recommendation from the Recreation Advisory Board and municipal staffers “that the City looks at creating a large acreage off-leash dog area that will allow users to exercise their dogs on an extensive trail network that could be used by walkers, hikers and bikers.”
“By having a dedicated space that accommodates this use it will hopefully reduce some of the current conflict between dogs and people that occur on the existing trail network,” the report also says.
There have long been complaints about dogs off leashes in Park City, including a recent string of reports to the Park City Police Department. Park City leaders hoped the creation of the dog park at Quinn’s Junction would attract dog owners to a place where their pets could be off leash. That dog park, though, has not drawn large crowds. Its location well outside a neighborhood and smallish size have been cited in the dog park’s lackluster numbers.
The report to the elected officials mentions a swath of open space under City Hall ownership along U.S. 40 close to Quinn’s Junction as a possible location for an off-leash area. The land is known as the Clark Ranch. It stretches through 340 acres, but it is not known what portion of the land a formal proposal for an off-leash area would cover. The Clark Ranch acreage is located on both sides of U.S. 40 just south of the Park City Heights development on the west side of the highway and just south of a park-and-ride lot on the east side of U.S. 40.
Michael Barille, the chair of the Recreation Advisory Board, said there is interest in a “bigger area and some hiking trails” in an off-leash area for dogs. He said the panel did not discuss design details, such as how the Clark Ranch acreage could be divided between uses.
Barille said there have been a few inquiries from the public in recent months about the possibility of creating a larger off-leash area for dogs.