Dog Park Supporters Meet With County Officials

is a Patch pets columnist and lead supporter of the effort to create a local dog park. The following article represents her notes and reactions to a dog park planning meeting with county officials Wednesday.

A small group representing the effort to establish —Vicki Rummel, Jason Danaher, Doug and Pat Single and myself—met with County Councilman David Marks and Deputy Director of the Department of Recreation and Parks Bud Chrismer Wednesday evening. Also in attendance was a past president of the Perry Hall Improvement Association, Dennis Eckerd.

Chrismer provided important input and information specific to , as well as other area parks that might be used for a dog park. He offered to help put our group in touch with those who established and run the Baltimore Animal Recreation Center Park at Hannah More Park, as well as the new dog park at Robert E Lee Park.

One concern is that these parks charge an annual registration fee. As dog owners who are taxpayers who have paid for the ball fields, community centers and other recreational facilities used by the community for many years, Perry Hall dog park supporters feel that this is not the correct course for our community. We are seeking ways to handle this differently. 

All agreed that a dog park is needed and wanted and Honeygo seems like an obvious choice for its central location, current usage and available piece of property. Chrismer, however, expressed two concerns. His first, more general concern was a lack of money for any new programs within the department. The second was specific to Honeygo regarding concerns about limited parking. 

These are issues that the Perry Hall dog park group is confident can be worked out. While dog owners have funded the recreational facilities for our community, along with all other taxpayers, putting a fence around a piece of property the county already owns is a fairly inexpensive expectation. The group is willing to work with the county and the community to explore funding options.

At Mark's invitation, Eckerd, a past president of the Perry Hall Improvement Association also attended the meeting. Eckerd has long advocated for a dog park in Perry Hall and more specifically at Honeygo. He was a welcome addition to the meeting and offered much insight, as well as research and information on the issue.

The Perry Hall dog park group hopes to work with the Perry Hall and White Marsh recreation councils, as well as the Department of Recreation and Parks, Marks and other community members to help make the Honeygo dog park a reality.