For the past 5+ years the UMD/Chester Park/Woodland/Arrowhead neighborhoods have used the Chester Bowl field as an unofficial dog park due to long distance these communities must travel nearest dog park. These communities must travel an average of 5mi each way to the 2 next closest dog parks. This dramatically impacts college students, lower income Duluth tax payers, and individuals who do not have cars who live in these neighborhoods. For tax payers who don’t have cars these dog parks are essentially inaccessible. The tax payers in these neighborhoods who have vehicles will be forced to go to one of Duluth’s few other dog. Most dog owners in these neighborhoods frequent the Chester Bowl Park 5-7days/week meaning these dog owners would be forced to drive an extra 50-70 miles/week or 200-320miles/month. The most common vehicle for Minnesota residents is a Ford F150 4x4 having an average gas mileage is 15 mpg that is an additional 3.3-4.7 gal/week or 13.2-18.8 gal/month. With gas prices around $2.50/gal that is an additional $33-$47/month of gas costs for many already struggling tax payers. During winter months these gas usages are increased by 30-40% from using 4 wheel drive. At an average 35% increase in fuel consumption the cost for these neighborhoods rises to $44.6-63.5/month. Which for some may not seem like a lot of money but for college students, recent graduates in debt, and lower income or struggling residents can be a significant amount.

The Chester Bowl has an average of 15-20 dog owners between 4-5pm every week day with nice days having upwards of 30+ dog owners. Many of these dog owners walk to Chester Bowl or drive very short commutes. For a city that prides itself on its outdoor activities and eco-minded beliefs forcing 15-20 residents to use an additional combined estimated 264-376gals/month (calculated from figures used above). Yearly that equates to 2.37 tonnes of CO2 (carbonfund.org) the city of Duluth is adding to its carbon foot print just from the dog owners who frequent Chester Bowl just 1 hour of the day. If Chester Bowl averages a conservative 3 dog owner visitors per hour from 7am to 4pm that equates to 27 additional dog owners being forced to drive to the few other dog parks and an additional 3.55 tonnes of CO2 being added to the city of Duluth’s carbon foot print. That brings the total annual addition carbon foot print to 5.92 tonnes of CO2 from the cities decision to shut down the (unofficial) Chester Park Dog Park with no plan to replace it.

Attached are maps showing the two closest dog parks for the aforementioned neighborhood residents.

Our proposed solution is that the two abandoned, fenced in, dirt covered, tennis courts adjacent to the Chester Bowl Field are turned into an official dog park. Attached are maps showing the current and proposed locations of the Chester Park Dog Park.

The location has easy access, adequate parking, is environmentally friendly, and is neighborhood resident approved.

It was brought to the attention of the dog owners that frequent Chester Bowl that due to the proximity of the field and the dog waste receptacle to Chester Creek that dog waste run off from the field was a concern of the cities’. Due to these concerns attached is a proposed dog waste receptacle locations that is approximately 10 times the distance from Chester Creek than the current location (Current Distance: 20-25ft, Proposed Distance: 200ft >). Since the tennis courts contain a significant amount of impermeable surface it is very likely that the city of Duluth already has a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP Plan) on file and in place storm water protection measures from when they were built but as a precaution attached is an overlaid topographical map showing elevation changes of the site, map showing likely storm water drainage path, and site pictures showing current, in place storm water pollution measures. There is also a relatively large parking lot 5ft from the edge of Chester Creek making it even more likely that the city of Duluth already has a SWPPP Plan in place for this location.

The site has approximately 650ft of chain link fencing surrounding the site in need of repair. The site already has fencing posts and to replace the current fencing with 6 ft High 2" x 9 Ga Vinyl Coated Chain Link Fence it would cost $2964 for the fencing plus the cost of the cities of Duluth’s construction crews to install the fencing. (This figure was determined by publicly available wholesale chain link fencing prices)

At the cost of $3000 plus labor we believe this project would provide an invaluable attraction to our communities and Chester Bowl Park.

We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge our representatives to act now to keep Chester Bowl dog friendly. We understand that Chester Bowl field is a multi use field year round and cannot be turned into a permanent dog park but there are two abandoned, fenced in, dirt covered, tennis courts adjacent to the Chester Bowl Field that could with a little work be turned into a dog park with similar square footage as the area of the field that the dog owners currently use. The aforementioned neighborhoods have shown they are responsible dog owners and have kept Chester Bowl clean from most dog waste.

We have the right and have earned the right many times over with our responsible dog ownership to be heard as a relevant body of residents who’s needs are not being met by the city of Duluth.

We ask the city of Duluth to make these tennis courts into an official dog park and patch the portions of the tennis court fencing that has been damaged and to provide waste services to the area.

All documents that say attached will be provided to the Duluth Park and Rec open hall meeting on March 13th from 5-7pm. This meeting is located at

 Council Chambers, 411 West First Street, Duluth, MN 55802

Any additional comments, corrections, etc that you would like to be added to the petition please email bakke377@d.umn.edu