Derby Dog Park: What Do You Think?

City officials are still exploring whether to carve out a dog park somewhere in Derby.

The Community Relations Committee — a subcommittee of the Derby Board of Aldermen — is researching the issue and will eventually report back to the full board with recommendations.

The subcommittee has discussed the possible dog park at two recent meetings but hasn’t formally endorsed the concept, or a spot for a park. The city is also talking to Ansonia about sharing costs for a possible dog park.

Mayor Anthony Staffieri and Sheila O’Malley, Derby’s economic development director, said a spot next to O’Sullivan’s Island (its formal name is now the ​“Edward J. Cotter, Jr. Memorial Park at O’Sullivan’s Island”) makes the most sense.

The city has a grant of about $10,000 that could be — but does not have to be — used to purchase a fence to enclose the dog park.

At the same time Staffieri and O’Malley stress — often and with great emphasis — the city is just exploring an idea.

In an interview with the Valley Indy in April, both Staffieri and O’Malley pointed out the spot they’re favoring is not on top of the the large meadow at O’Sullivan’s Island.

Instead, it’s an area next to the meadow. The space was overgrown and unattractive. The city’s Department of Public Works has been cleaning it up, Staffieri said.

The photo below shows O’Sullivan’s Island (it’s actually a peninsula). The Derby Greenway walking path — from which dogs were recently banned — is at the bottom.

The dog park would go on the left, where there are some trees, according to Staffieri. The meadow is on the right. Article continues below the photo, courtesy of Markanthony Izzo.

Derby Dog Park?

“Any dog park needs two things — shade and water. I don’t know where else it could go,” O’Malley said.

Staffieri said the spot also provides a ton of nearby parking, something other potential sites, such as Witek Park, do not have.

“It’s a spot that hasn’t been used for anything. We’re carving it out. It needed to be cleared out anyway. It’s very close to a large parking lot. They won’t be walking dogs all over the Greenway path to get to it.”

Back at the subcommittee researching the dog park, Aldermen Art Gerckens and Carmen DiCenso are researching other potential dog park locations.

Alderman Ken Hughes, the chairman of the subcommittee, said he’s been hearing opposition to the dog park, especially from residents using social media sites such as Facebook.

In particular, Hughes said he’s received feedback from a few constituents concerned about whether dog feces from a dog park would contaminate the Housatonic and Naugatuck rivers, which meet at O’Sullivan’s Island.

The meadow is already often packed with droppings from Canadian geese.

“We could probably debate about it all day,” Hughes said.

Staffieri said he’s talked to officials from towns that have dog parks about potential poop problems.

“They said the people who use the dog parks police it themselves,” the mayor said.

Dog Utopia

The Shelton Dog Park at the corner of Nells Rock Road and Shelton Avenue opened last year.

Ron Herrick, Shelton’s director of parks and recreation, has been answering questions from several Derby officials about his city’s dog park.

Dog feces is not a problem at the Shelton park, in part because the park has an active volunteer base that keeps an eye on things.

“Our biggest asset is our volunteer committee. They are fantastic. They have work parties in the spring, summer and fall to make sure the park is maintained,” Herrick said. ​“They are very active. We also have signs all over the park saying you have to clean up after your dog.”

He said Derby could probably contact the Naugatuck Valley Health District to ask about any health hazards form dog feces.

“They should be able to get a memo from Valley Health to allay any concerns like that,” he said.

Shelton spent roughly $15,000 to buy the fencing for its dog park. Signs cost another $900, Herrick estimated. Three doggie pots (trash receptacles) were purchased for about $900. A parks and recreation worker stops by once a week to maintain the park. It takes about an hour — and the worker is paid $15 per hour, Herrick said.

Click here for the Friends of the Shelton Dog Park web page.

Click here to check out the Shelton Dog Park Facebook page.

Donations to the park — ranging from the construction of a storage shed to decorative plantings — have been huge.

The Shelton park is busy. Herrick said it probably sees more people than basketball or tennis courts in Shelton.

Hughes, meanwhile, said Derby officials are in a somewhat awkward spot because the public isn’t pushing for a dog park. Volunteers aren’t stepping forward, other than two people who contacted Hughes.

There’s no deadline on when Hughes’ subcommittee will make recommendations to the full Board of Aldermen.

“We gave it to the subcommittee. The subcommittee is gathering information. And the subcommittee brings it to the full board,” Staffieri said.

Keep local reporting alive. Donate.ValleyIndy.org