City retains current dog-park hours after staff review; earlier or later hours would require contract and infrastructure changes

Deputy Director Patrick O’Meara presented a staff review of dog-park hours and recommended retaining the department’s current schedule of 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.

He explained that the city’s default park hours are 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., that Allied Security (under contract with the Department of Public Safety) currently closes park gates and bathrooms at 11 p.m., and that carving out different hours for dog parks would require separate entrances, parking, possible restrooms and changes to the Allied Security contract. “To adjust that and and change that, we would have to renegotiate that contract,” O’Meara said.

O’Meara also said opening parks earlier would create operational challenges because maintenance crews typically begin safety talks and preparations before 6 a.m., and noise ordinances limit early engine work; staff would be paid for hours where little productive work could be done. Leaving parks open 24 hours, he said, would invite “undesirable activity.” The deputy director told commissioners the department is not prepared to pursue those changes now, given budget constraints and competing priorities.

Commissioner Lisa Sherman asked that the commission retain existing hours; the city attorney’s office clarified the item was a report only and could not be acted on at the meeting. Commissioners raised additional neighborhood-level concerns — for example, a request from Ward 5 to increase cleaning at Children’s Memorial Park and for improved lighting — and O’Meara said staff would review those operational requests separately.

No change in hours was adopted at the meeting.