Three local communities are seeing a push for dog parks as part of the public landscape. It is a trend that is growing across northern Michigan and the entire country.
7&4's Kate Fox takes a deeper look at all these bark-parks and why it seems so difficult to get them up and running.
Traverse City Parks and Recreation Superintendent Lauren Zaughn says, "There’s a lot of places you can take your dog--walk it on a leash for awhile but there’s really no good places for off the leash at least not in the city limits."
And that's preciously why the citizens of Traverse City, Frankfort and Elmwood Township are pushing for pooch parks.
Frankfort Resident John Vinkemulber says, "They're great, not just good for the dogs...good for the people."
Even with years of steady interest, all these cities are still at the preliminarily stages of planning for dog parks.
Traverse City has a tentative location picked out just off of 11th Street by the Village of Grand Traverse Commons. Frankfort already has an interim dog park at the local high school and is considering some waterfront locations. Elmwood Township is looking at a half acre of land at Cherry Bend Park.
So what’s the hold up?
Zaughn says, "Like any new park, any new government facility it does take some time. It has to go through a lot of approval steps and fundraising also getting on Capital Improvement plans."
Frankfort City Superintendent Joshua Mills says, "It requires a bureaucratic process that involves the Recreation Board Committee, the Frankfort City Planning Commission and the City Council.”
And the next predicament…where's the money coming from?
Zaughn says, "It's hard to find money for Capital Improvement pans through the city or any government body, we have to be able to plan for it a long time in advance or put a little aside if you can or come up with grants, donations, or fundraisers to make it happen."
And aside from the money, supporters realize that it may be a long time before they and their four-legged friends have a place to call home.
