El Dorado Hills Community Park Dog Park Approved by El Dorado County Planning Commission! Those of you who have participated in EDDOG activities or followed our progress for the last 8 years will understand and share our excitement that there will finally be an off-leash dog park in El Dorado Hills! This year! 2014! Last Thursday, the El Dorado Planning Commission approved (by a 4 to 0 decision) the new location and plans for a dog park at Community Park on El Dorado Hills Blvd. It has been a long time coming. At a special Board Meeting in June 2013 the Directors of El Dorado Hills Community Services District (EDHCSD) voted unanimously to approve a budget for the 2014 fiscal year that included an additional $50K for the off-leash dog park and together with $50K budgeted in prior years provided a substantial nest egg for its development. The original plan for the park was estimated to cost several hundred thousand dollars and had been languishing on the books for years. We owe special thanks to EDHCSD General Manager, Brent Dennis, who spearheaded the latest iteration of the dog park. He was inspired by a visit to Hacienda Park in Cameron Park, where EDDOG was instrumental in raising funds and constructing the first off-leash dog park on the Western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in collaboration with our partners, Cameron Park Community Services District. On returning to Community Park Brent located a new site for the EDH dog park, situated similarly in the shade of lovely oak trees, and developed a plan that will provide our dogs with a wonderful place to play! His hand drawn plans are shown below. The newly approved dog park will be located on the west side of New York Creek (blue line) adjacent to the ball fields that have been undergoing renovation this Spring. It is smaller than originally envisioned, but still incorporating a large-dog area (outlined in yellow) and a small-dog area (outlined in orange) with a focal entry plaza displaying the Memorial Bricks that you can purchase through EDDOG to commemorate your canine companions. This will be adjacent to the new bridge that crosses the creek. The bonus? The projected cost of the new park is approximately one third that of previous estimates from several years ago. EDDOG will continue to raise funds for dog park fixtures such as water fountains and benches. We look forward to working with Brent, his staff and the EDHCSD Board of Directors to make this park a reality and an amenity of which our community can be proud. So we thank all who may have written or called the Planning Commission in support of this project and provided encouragement over the years. Thank you to Aaron Mount, Associate Planner, County of El Dorado, who lead the charge for the county and gave his recommendation to approve the project. And to everyone who spoke on behalf of the dog park: Brent Dennis (General Manager EDHCSD), Kevin Loewen (Director Parks and Planning, EDHCSD), Noelle Mattock EDHCSD Board President speaking as a citizen), Wayne Lowery (current EDHCSD Board Member, ex General Manager of 20 years and speaking as a citizen), Holly Morrison (EDDOG President) and Supervisor Ron Mikulaco (EDC, District 1) - thank you! There were no opposing voices at the meeting! To quote Holly: Congratulations to us all and to all the pups who have been waiting for a safe place to run freely in El Dorado Hills!
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 00:14:54 +0000
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