Burnet Woods dog park would get less turf, more plants with new design

Patricia Gallagher Newberry, Cincinnati Enquirer
·2 min read
The latest design for a dog park in Burnet Woods includes 4-foot high fencing instead of the 5-foot fences in earlier renderings.
The latest design for a dog park in Burnet Woods includes 4-foot high fencing instead of the 5-foot fences in earlier renderings.

Reacting to continued criticism, Cincinnati Parks says it will reduce man-made surfaces and increase plants in a dog park it plans for Clifton’s Burnet Woods.

Its latest design calls for 9.5% less artificial turf, concrete pavers and pea gravel; 20% more space for plant beds; and a 2,800-square-foot prairie meadow to attract birds, buffer noise and control erosion. The turf would be free of PFAS, considered a “forever chemical,” parks officials said.

The changes follow “a tremendous amount of valuable public feedback received over the last few years,” parks officials said in a press release.

Much of the feedback has come from opponents who have spoken at meetings, demonstrated at park offices and waged social media efforts since parks began considering a Clifton-area dog park in 2014.

Cincinnati Parks is acting as if it has "resources to burn" in pushing forward with a dog park with community opposition, according to Preserve Burnet Woods president Cynthia Duval. "Parks are supposed to be one of our most democratic institutions," she said, calling late-stage requests for more public comment unethical and marginalizing.
Cincinnati Parks is acting as if it has "resources to burn" in pushing forward with a dog park with community opposition, according to Preserve Burnet Woods president Cynthia Duval. "Parks are supposed to be one of our most democratic institutions," she said, calling late-stage requests for more public comment unethical and marginalizing.

Preserve Burnet Woods is not happy with the process or outcome.

"We're very disappointed that parks is continuing to shoehorn this project into a community with a clear and vocal majority in opposition," the group's president, Cynthia Duval, said in an emailed statement.

Opponents believe a dog park would create noise and leave behind dog waste, harm the natural habitat and take dollars needed for other parks priorities. A November 2022 petition on Change.org, which attracted close to 1,500 supporters, called the dog park "incompatible with existing uses of and facilities in Burnet Woods.”

As designed, the 8,800-square-foot dog park would take up 0.2% of Burnet Wood’s nearly 90 acres, near Jefferson Avenue and Brookline Drive. Parks has committed $300,000 to the project, seeking up to $150,000 more from donors.

Assuming funds are in hand, parks will seek a contractor to build the project in the spring, aiming for a mid-2024 completion.

Officials will continue to take public comment with a new survey that closes Dec. 15.

Seeking input this far into the process "is unethical and a deliberate marginalizing of those most impacted by the outcome," Duval's group said. "It's a denial of lived experience and procedural injustice."

Under the latest plan, the Burnet Woods dog park would have less man-made materials, more plants, an additional tree and six more benches.
Under the latest plan, the Burnet Woods dog park would have less man-made materials, more plants, an additional tree and six more benches.
The Board of Commissioners of Cincinnati Parks OK'd plans for a Burnet Woods dog park in August 2021 after considering seven sites over about three years.
The Board of Commissioners of Cincinnati Parks OK'd plans for a Burnet Woods dog park in August 2021 after considering seven sites over about three years.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: What is the latest plan for Burnet Woods dog park?