Morton board approves Park District dog park at 420 E. Washington after brief debate on hours and noise

The Morton Board of Trustees voted to approve a publicly owned dog park proposed by the Morton Park District at 420 E. Washington Street during its May 20, 2025, meeting.

The Morton Park District, represented by Joel Dickerson, presented the site plan and said the plan commission had given a unanimous recommendation to approve the dog park. The board’s vote approved the petition without added conditions.

Trustees discussed whether to set hours of operation. Trustee Craig Hilliard said the planning commission had recommended a dawn-to-dusk schedule but called that timeframe “unreasonable,” noting dawn is as early as 5 a.m. in summer and dusk can be early in winter. A resident who owns rental property near the proposed site raised concerns about potential noise. The board acknowledged those concerns and compared expected dog-park noise to existing activity at other public spaces and schools.

A speaker referenced the village’s noise ordinance as the baseline for determining reasonable limits; a village official noted that ordinance already allows some daytime activity (for example, lawn mowing) beginning at 8 a.m. Trustees also said the board’s role was to decide suitability of the site rather than to prescribe hours for another public body to operate. One trustee clarified that the motion approved the dog park “without any conditions” that might otherwise address hours.

The Morton Park District director and several trustees compared the proposed park to the existing dog park at Oakwood Park, noting that while dogs bark, the existing park is not persistently noisy. The planning commission’s minutes and site plan were included in the board packet.

The board approved the petition. The vote was recorded as a roll call and the motion passed.