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Coral Gables shows conceptual design for dog park at 520 University Drive
Summary
City staff presented a conceptual design for a two‑section dog park at 520 University Drive, describing preserved trees, a 250-by-90-foot main lawn, a small‑dog artificial turf area, a 25‑foot planting buffer and double‑gate entries; staff will collect public input and take it to the City Commission.
City staff on the evening presented a conceptual dog‑park design for an open field at 520 University Drive and outlined next steps for public input and Commission review.
Dina Belle Llewellyn, assistant public works director and a city‑licensed landscape architect, said the site is the open field north of Kadima between Kadima and Riviera along University Drive and showed renderings that keep large banyan and oak trees in place. "None of these trees are going to be removed," Llewellyn said during the presentation, adding the main fenced area would be roughly "250 feet long by 90 feet wide," with a separate artificial‑turf area for small dogs and a 25‑foot native planting buffer on the residential side.
The concept includes decorative black aluminum fencing to match recently opened city facilities, landscaping to "nestle" the fence into the site, double‑gate protected entry points (a holding pen with two gates to prevent dogs from running out), benches and dog‑waste stations. Llewellyn described the proposal as a conceptual rendering and said species‑level planting choices and exact dimensions would be refined as the project advances.
Community Recreation Director Fred Cucero summarized the scope as "park design and construction as a dog park for small dogs and large dogs in two different sections," and said the city would maintain the park and select amenities consistent with standards used at other city parks. Cucero said staff will post the presentation online for two weeks to collect additional comments and will compile all input to present to the City Commission for review and a possible decision.
No construction timeline or final cost estimate was provided at the meeting; Cucero said an estimated project cost will be developed if the design moves forward beyond the conceptual stage. Written comments can be submitted to parksprojects@coralgables.com. The record of the meeting and the presentation will be posted to the city's Parks Projects webpage.
