Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks And Recreation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Residents press council over Westminster Hills dog-park parking; staff promises near-term options
Summary
Neighbors near Westminster Hills urged the council to act after years of traffic and parking spillover from the dog park. City staff said tactical parking measures would be pursued before the longer-area management plan is completed.
Residents living near the Westminster Hills dog park told the City Council on Feb. 24 the problem of parked cars, noise and safety spillover has persisted for years and must be addressed more quickly.
Melissa Koss, who identified herself as “a resident of Westminster on the northwest end of the Countryside neighborhood,” told the council she and neighbors have been raising the issue since 2017 and described ongoing weekend and holiday impacts: “Keep your eyes closed for 3 minutes … and then imagine standing in your living room with the same noise right outside your window for 12 hours a day every single weekend and holiday for 9 months of the year.”
Councilors and staff discussed both near-term and longer-term responses. City Manager Andrew Andrews said the area-management plan consultant is “almost underway” and that Acting Parks and Recreation Director Eric Osterberg had identified immediate parking measures staff could implement. Andrews said staff would “reach out to the neighbors with some more immediate parking actions that we're able to take” and would test tactical measures before any longer-term changes.
Councilors called for speeding enforcement and ticketing where parking prohibitions are posted, and several urged that parking-management options be accelerated rather than delayed. Councilor Rosati specifically asked staff to extract the parking component and move it forward ahead of the full management plan.
Why it matters: Residents say overflow parking and associated noise and safety issues have degraded day-to-day life near the dog park; council members signaled urgency and asked staff to pursue both quick fixes and community-driven longer-term solutions.
Quotes “Keep your eyes closed for 3 minutes … and then imagine please standing in your living room with the same noise right outside your window for 12 hours a day every single weekend and holiday for 9 months of the year,” resident Melissa Koss said in public comment. “We will reach out to the neighbors with some more immediate parking actions that we're able to take,” City Manager Andrew Andrews told the council.
Ending Staff said they will contact affected neighbors to pilot immediate parking measures while continuing to develop the broader area-management plan; councilors asked for visible enforcement and an accelerated timeline for parking solutions.
