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Superior council backs Bear Creek area as dog‑park site, continues work with donors and agencies
Summary
The Superior Common Council voted to move forward with work toward placing a dog park near the new animal shelter in Bear Creek Park, while members of the public and the Humane Society urged further study of health, buffering and operational concerns. The JC's have pledged $20,000 toward a park but must confirm the donation with their membership.
The Superior Common Council voted to continue work toward siting a city dog park in the Bear Creek Park area adjacent to the animal shelter, while noting the location and funding are contingent on further steps and partner approvals.
The discussion at the council meeting focused on a staff review of roughly 30 candidate sites that was narrowed to about a dozen by Parks and Planning using seven siting criteria, including distance from residences, minimum acreage and wetland avoidance. Mary Morgan, director of Parks, Recreation and Forestry, and Jason Cirk, the city planning director, reviewed the candidate sites and the tradeoffs at each location.
Why it matters: Councilors and residents debated competing goals — placing the park where it connects to the new animal shelter and existing infrastructure versus avoiding direct impacts on nearby homes, community gardens and shelter operations. The council’s motion directs staff to continue development work on the Bear Creek location while acknowledging outstanding concerns and partnership conditions.
The mayor argued for the Bear Creek site next to the animal shelter, stressing visibility, access and synergy with the shelter. “I think it's illogical that this dog park, if you will, is not constructed next to the 2,000,000 animal shelter that we're in the process of building,” the mayor said. He proposed Site Number 12 next to the animal shelter and moved to approve that site for further work.
Representatives of the Humane Society of Douglas County urged caution about placing a public dog park adjacent to shelter operations. Michelle Porter of the Humane Society said there are “a couple of concerns that we have because of the number of animals that we take care of … about a 100 animals a month, that kinda stresses out the animals if there's not some sort of barrier between the public and the animal shelter.” Sheila Kite, also with the Humane Society, added that newly arrived shelter animals are often not fully vaccinated and that shelter animals must be taken outside daily under Department of Agriculture requirements.
Residents and other stakeholders voiced differing views. Julia Johnson, 2005 Lackawanna Avenue, said, “I'm supporting the dog park being placed at the Texas Avenue location in Billings Park,” citing neighborhood volunteers willing to maintain the site. Al Horvath said neighborhood petitions oppose the Texas Avenue site and urged the council to pick a location that minimizes impacts on nearby residents and a neighborhood home for special‑needs children; Horvath said opponents had collected “over 200 signatures.” Brent Fennessey said the JC's group has pledged $20,000 to build a park and would need to take any council change in direction back to its membership: “The JC's, we're putting $20,000 into this park.”
Council discussion noted a range of technical constraints that shaped site evaluations, including DNR wetland mapping, ski and snowmobile trail conflicts, proximity to airport reserve land (which would trigger a multi‑year removal process), and potential leasing negotiations with the Department of Transportation to secure an additional strip of land that would bring one Bear Creek option to about 1.6 acres. Staff said some candidate sites would require wetland delineations before permits or land disturbances could proceed.
Action and next steps: The council adopted a motion to “work toward the Bear Creek area” for the dog park and approved continuing development of the Bear Creek location; the motion carried. Councilors and staff clarified that the JC's $20,000 pledge is still subject to the JC's membership approval and that if the JC's decline, the council would need to reconsider funding for fences and related construction. Staff will continue permitting and coordination with the Department of Transportation and the Humane Society to resolve buffering and operational issues.
The meeting record shows the council approved continuing toward the Bear Creek site and asked staff to return with implementation details and, where needed, coordination with partners and donors.
