PLEASE DO NOT SIGN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY SIGNED A PAPER COPY OF THIS PETITION
A small group of Clifton residents is asking Cincinnati Parks to build a dog park at the entrance to Burnet Woods on Brookline Avenue, using *$300,000* in Parks funds. The 10,000-square foot dog park would put artificial turf, pavement and fencing in an open field of clover, adjacent to a grove of mature trees. Burnet Woods is a valuable greenspace serving nearly 13,000 people in adjacent neighborhoods and many more across the region. A dog park is incompatible with existing uses of and facilities in Burnet Woods, which include hiking trails, a fishing lake, a frisbee golf course, a bandstand, a playground, picnic shelters, Trailside Nature Center and Wolff Planetarium. The proposed dog park would negatively affect existing park visitors by:

● Excluding existing visitors from an otherwise open and inviting field that serves many residents who lack access to private greenspace
● Concentrating dog urine and feces flowing through increased stormwater runoff
● Adding noise pollution to an area already burdened with sirens along the emergency route of Ludlow and Jefferson Avenues
● Introducing toxic “forever” chemicals to the delicate ecosystem via plastic turf
● Limiting parking for regional events and family gatherings that have long been hosted in the nearby valley or Trailside Nature Center
● Increasing maintenance costs and diverting resources from existing needs, including $74 million in deferred maintenance

Further, Cincinnati Parks has made no effort to inform or engage those who already rely on Burnet Woods for their recreation needs about this proposed project.

We deserve better and seek to hold Cincinnati Parks accountable to the community. As such, we, the undersigned visitors and friends of Burnet Woods, oppose construction of a dog park in Burnet Woods and urge Cincinnati Parks to reject plans for a dog park in this existing greenspace.