The commissioner for ANC 2F06, Michael Benardo, recently circulated an email with an online petition pushing for the creation of a dog park at the Shaw Recreation Field at 11th Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW. Now, anyone who lives in a ten block radius of Logan Circle knows that the neighborhood is in desperate need of a legal dog park. Just try walking through the circle itself at dusk sometime - odds are pretty good you'll be witness to an off-leash dog getting away from its owner and darting into traffic.
But I do take issue with some of Benardo's reasoning behind why putting a dog park in Shaw Recreation Field is a good idea. Here's what the petition says:
>> The field is centrally located to Logan Circle, U Street and Shaw neighborhoods;
>> Residences and businesses are more than fifty feet from the field;
>> The field has historically been under-utilized as an athletic field;
>> A number of other fields exist nearby where athletic games and competitions can be held;
>> Precedent exists for redesignating parkland use, as when the tennis courts at Shaw Field were converted to a skate park;
>> Locating a dog park in Shaw Field will deter the criminal activity and public drunkenness commonly seen on the field;
>> A dog park at Shaw Field will not compromise environmental considerations, interfere with community gardens, or cause run-off contamination to streams or waterways;
>> The field is flat and will allo ...
Anytime
The commissioner for ANC 2F06, Michael Benardo, recently circulated an email with an online petition pushing for the creation of a dog park at the Shaw Recreation Field at 11th Street and Rhode Island Avenue NW. Now, anyone who lives in a ten block radius of Logan Circle knows that the neighborhood is in desperate need of a legal dog park. Just try walking through the circle itself at dusk sometime - odds are pretty good you'll be witness to an off-leash dog getting away from its owner and darting into traffic.
But I do take issue with some of Benardo's reasoning behind why putting a dog park in Shaw Recreation Field is a good idea. Here's what the petition says:
>> The field is centrally located to Logan Circle, U Street and Shaw neighborhoods;
>> Residences and businesses are more than fifty feet from the field;
>> The field has historically been under-utilized as an athletic field;
>> A number of other fields exist nearby where athletic games and competitions can be held;
>> Precedent exists for redesignating parkland use, as when the tennis courts at Shaw Field were converted to a skate park;
>> Locating a dog park in Shaw Field will deter the criminal activity and public drunkenness commonly seen on the field;
>> A dog park at Shaw Field will not compromise environmental considerations, interfere with community gardens, or cause run-off contamination to streams or waterways;
>> The field is flat and will allo ...