The dog park is too important to fail

Valley Stream’s much-anticipated dog park opened to the public in early May, but since then it has been mostly a flop.

The facility opened after a year of planning, countless meetings and much deliberation. Overall, it was a true community effort, with many people contributing ideas, money, supplies or physical labor. Unfortunately, the large-rock surface was a swing and a miss.

It’s too early to give up on the park, and we’re glad that village officials are moving forward to put down a new surface, one that dogs might actually like. This is a step in the right direction, to create the facility that was envisioned when talk of a dog park first began. There are thousands of dog owners in Valley Stream, yet less than 100 have registered to use the park. That’s a sign that something clearly wasn’t right.

While the village will be fronting the money for the new surface, the Friends of the Valley Stream Dog Park will ultimately bear the cost. It will pay $2,000 immediately and a minimum of $1,000 per year until the new surface, synthetic FieldTurf, is paid off.

With that in mind, we encourage the village to restructure its fee schedule for the park. Currently, village residents pay $18 a year to join, and non-residents who live in the Central High School District pay $55. It’s a modest cost, and there’s nothing unusual about charging user fees above and beyond taxes.

If the village is expecting the Friends group to pay for the FieldTurf, however, it should reconsider the fee for residents. One of the major sources of revenue for the Friends group will be membership fees. People who join the group will also likely be dog park members. That means that they will be paying for the dog park three times — through their tax bill, with the fee to the village and with the Friends membership fee.

We propose that the registration fee be waived for village residents who join Friends. That money, in turn, will likely be going to the village, anyway, to either pay down the cost of the new surface or for future park upgrades. Membership in Friends of the Valley Stream Dog Park should guarantee residents use of the park.

For those from outside the village, the $55 fee, which is the same as the cost of a park membership, seems fair.

The village must also, sooner rather than later, address parking around the dog park. The spots immediately surrounding the park are reserved for village employees and those with resident permits. By early morning, most of the lot is full because of its proximity to the train station. A few spots should be reserved for dog park users, especially if village officials expect that the new surface will attract more people. Let’s not turn them away because they can’t find a close place to park. This should be a simple fix — all it takes is a couple of signs.

The new surface should go a long way toward making the dog park a success. A few other tweaks could make it even better. A lot of effort and resources went into building it, and we don’t want to see it go to waste. A good facility is good for the dogs. And their humans.