Update: Share Your Solution submissions temporarily postponed
We had planned to open our Share Your Solution initiative this week, giving Hill Street Dog Park users several ways to propose and compare alternative layouts for the small-dog area.
Unfortunately, we have had to temporarily postpone submissions because we still do not have the correct drawing and confirmed dimensions for the dog park.
The drawing provided by the City shows the small-dog area as 0.26 acres, or 24.5% of the park’s 1.06-acre off-leash area. After comparing the drawing with the park itself, however, we identified significant problems: the fence line and acreage split shown on the drawing are incorrect. Based on the actual layout, the small-dog area appears to be closer to one-third of the off-leash area than the one-quarter shown on the City’s drawing.
We requested corrected drawings and dimensions from the City on August 5 and again on August 10. On August 10, we received a response, but it contained the same incorrect drawing and dimensions we had already raised concerns about.
This isn’t just a technical issue. The Share Your Solution process was designed so community members could draw alternative layouts directly on the park map and have their proposed areas measured and compared. We don’t want people spending their time developing solutions that would then be measured against dimensions we know are wrong.
Our Tuesday, August 11 meeting at 11:00 a.m. at the park gazebo is still going ahead. Instead of gathering solutions, it will be an information, timeline and community update on what has happened and where things currently stand. The Thursday, August 13 meeting remains tentative while we wait for further information.
If you’ve already started working on an idea, please keep it! Nothing is lost. We’ll reopen submissions as soon as we have accurate information so that everyone is working from the same reliable starting point.
Our goal hasn’t changed: we support dedicated space for small dogs and are asking the City to work with park users to determine whether the current size and configuration are the best use of the space.
Thank you to everyone who has signed the petition, submitted observations, shared information and taken part.
Getting this right matters.
See the full update and current information
Robert & Romy