By Steve Metsch
The city of Countryside has put on hold building a dog park, but canines and their owners are still in store for a treat.
The city council has unanimously approved a plan to permit dogs in City Park and Countryside Park this year.
Previously, they were not allowed in the parks.
While dogs will be in the parks, they must be on leashes. And owners will be required to clean up any deposits left behind by their dogs.
Failure to do either will result in $250 fines for each offense.
Ald. Mark Benson (3rd), chair of the infrastructure committee, said the city is trying this for one year, rather than build a dog park as had been discussed.
“At committee, we’ve been going back and forth on this for several months, build a park or allow dogs into certain parks. We decided to do a trial, one-year basis, to allow leashed dogs in City and Countryside parks. At the end of the year, we’ll re-visit it,” Benson said at the April 10 council meeting.
Benson cautioned that if rules are broken too often – dogs running free without leashes, owners not cleaning up – the city may return to a no-dogs policy for the parks.
“What’s going to ruin this, if it does get ruined, are going to be the people who don’t pick up after their pets.
“We’re going to monitor this with our public works (department) and our residents who can reach out to their aldermen if there’s an issue.” Benson said.
The in-line skating rink at Countryside Park, which is not as popular as in years past, had been mentioned as a potential site for a dog park.
Building a dog park “started to get rather expensive so we decided to go this way,” he said.
Many residents had contacted Mayor Sean McDermott in recent years about the city building a dog park. Last year, he urged city staff to look into the possibility.
Dogs will not be allowed in Ideal Park because there were safety concern regarding children from nearby Ideal Elementary School.