Town to look at creating a dog park in Franklin Square

Franklin Square may get a dog park in the future, thanks to the work of the Community League of Garden City South and the Franklin Square Civic Association.

The Community League reached out to the Town of Hempstead’s Parks and Recreation Department last month to see if it would be viable to create a dog park in the area, after a Franklin Square resident asked the group to help her create one. The town is now reviewing the request, according to Community League President Marge Kelly, who said she understands why people would want a dog park in the neighborhood. 

“Some people only have ‘furbabies’ and not human babies,” she wrote on Facebook, and would have to bring their dogs to Valley Stream or Woodmere to socialize them.

A park in Franklin Square could be next to the tennis courts at Rath Park, where there is already a water fountain set up, Kelly suggested, or between the Historical Society building and the houses on Naple Avenue. But, she told the Herald, it would “ultimately be the town’s decision.”

The Franklin Square Civic Association also sent out a survey to its members on July 14 to gauge community members’ interest in creating a dog park in the area. It asks residents whether they would like to see a dog park in Franklin Square, where they think it should be, and whether they would be willing to pay more in taxes for its maintenance. The survey will be open until July 31, after which Civic Association officials will send the results to the town’s Parks Department.

“We want to get a pulse from the community,” said Treasurer Frank Culmone. “We don’t want to speak for something like this.”

He added that he thought the town could develop a dog park at the Averill Boulevard Park or at the Nassau Boulevard Park, and said the Civic Association will be sending out another survey shortly to gauge interest in creating a soccer field in Franklin Square.