Lyndale Farmstead dog park advances

Finding a place for Fido to run freely in a certain area of south Minneapolis has been a challenge for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.

But a portion of the board may have finally settled on a suitable spot.

On Tuesday night, the Park Board's planning committee voted 4-1 to approve converting a portion of the board's South Side operations center parking lot in the west corner of Lyndale Farmstead Park into an off-leash dog park.

The full nine-member board still must give its approval.

The vote comes more than a year after controversy erupted over a proposal to create an off-leash dog park in Martin Luther King Park, about a mile away. A large number of black residents thought a dog park would dishonor King's memory.

During Tuesday's meeting, some commissioners voiced support for the parking lot site. "This is going to be a linchpin in the community," said Brad Bourn, the commissioner for the sixth park district.

However, Commissioner Bob Fine said he was concerned with the potential cost of developing the site.

"We would like people to become ex-strangers," said Ben Harris, a member of the citizen advisory committee that recommended the location and design of the dog park. He later added, "Real community happens in dog parks. Dog parks are not just for the dogs but for the people."

Tuesday's meeting had the potential to be controversial. The citizen advisory committee that had recommended the parking lot location also offered an alternative site, south of the operations center wall along Kings Highway, west of the Theodore Wirth home, a site historical preservationists oppose.

A stormwater pond within the chosen site would not be accessible to dogs or the public.

Park workers have said they're concerned that using that site would reduce parking for employees and make space more cramped for park machinery.

If the site gets final approval, staff would develop a relocation plan for the equipment and material currently stored at that location.

Final approval of the resolution would also direct staff to begin development of a system-wide off-leash recreation area master plan in the years to come.

The budget for the project is a little more than $132,000, and the baseline estimated cost for the project is $96,210. The vote by the full board is expected to occur in December.