Parking Thoughts and Another Proposal

In going over the various plans for neighborhood dog parks and discussing possible temporary solutions, we have discussed the parking issue extensively. How the city considers any of their proposed neighborhood sites to have adequate parking has been a real head-scratcher.

Given their track record, it is tempting to believe that they are deliberately choosing sites with too little parking because 1) they know that they will never be approved and they won't have to move on to the next step, 2) they don't actually want to provide a facility that can be used effectively, or 3) the people doing the planning have never been to a dog park and don't have any idea what's going to happen there.

Although I'm sure foot-dragging and unfamiliarity have some influence, I actually think there is a different reason. As near as I can tell, the Ward Park plan is supposed to be a pilot for a bigger system. Eventually, if I'm understanding correctly, Ann Arbor is envisioned to have Swift Run as a major city/regional node as well as small neighborhood off-leash areas like Ward Park scattered throughout the city. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

In that situation, the neighborhood parks wouldn't need much parking. A half-dozen spaces would be more than enough as most people using them could walk and the great bulk of people driving to a dog park would go to the larger Swift Run facility. Thus the curb space at Ward Park and the small parking lot at South maple are considered "adequate parking."

Unfortunately, those places do not have adequate parking to serve as the temporary city-wide solution while Swift Run remains in bureaucratic limbo. Even the temporary solution I offered last week is really no good in light of the parking problem.

I still think a temporary fence somewhere is an ideal solution both for dog owners and for the city who wants to see a park in practice before opening it's flagship park.

So instead of Ward or South Maple, why not consider something that already has ample parking? There are a number of parks that fit the bill - Buhr and West Parks spring to mind. However, I don't think those are realistic because of the long community meeting process that would no doubt be involved.

Instead I'd suggest the Southeast Area Park, although it is very inconvenient for most Ann Arbor residents, right across the street from Swift Run at Platte and Ellsworth. The advantage of this otherwise inconvenient location is that it is in the same neighborhood as Swift Run so presumably the public meeting process doesn't need to be repeated. Also, unlike Ward Park there are almost no neighbors immediately next to the park. There are some very large parking lots already at Southeast including a gravel lot that seems to be blocked off most of the time but could serve as overflow. It also has some large unused areas including a mowed area along the west edge. I've marked these in yellow in the map on the right.

A temporary fence, a sign, and a trash can is all it would take to provide an off-leash area here. It is a very imperfect plan, especially given the distance from most of Ann Arbor's population, but at least it's something.