Commissioner Murman mentioned in this Tampa Bay Times article on Northwest County Dog Park:
Westchase residents ready to put bark in new park
- By Joey Johnston, Times Correspondent
Friday, July 22, 2016 4:20pm
WESTCHASE — Four years ago, as Joe Odda walked around Westchase sidewalks to exercise his energetic and friendly Boston terrier, Libby, he and his neighbors continually felt something was missing.
They wanted a nearby dog park for their pets.
Their dream is about to come true.
In early August, the county will open Northwest Dog Park — complete with a lighted 93-space parking lot, public restrooms, dog-wash stations, agility equipment, water fountains, benches protected by shaded pavilions, doggie field turf and 6-foot-tall fences.
“It’s just perfect,” Odda said.
The $183,000 facility is built on Hillsborough County-owned land that’s shared by the HART Northwest Transfer Center/Park ‘n Ride, at 8951 W Waters Ave., across the street from the Northwest Family YMCA and adjacent to the Upper Tampa Bay Trail.
And it’s actually two dogs parks in one — a fenced-in facility for large dogs and another fenced-in area for small dogs — connected by a newly constructed quarter-mile sidewalk.
“So many people are excited about this project — and I’m one of them,” said Kyla Booher, Hillsborough County’s manager of parks planning and development who grew up with a standard poodle, Sophie, that she plans to bring to the new facility.
Odda, who formed a dog park task force to study potential locations, worked closely with the Hillsborough County Parks and Recreation Department, along with the office of Commissioner Sandy Murman, who is expected to participate in the facility’s ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“Everyone was so energetic and cooperative about it,” Odda said. “One of the (parks officials) said an interesting thing, telling us that dog parks are really people parks. Dog parks are wonderful locations for people to socialize in a park setting and meet other dog owners.
“I think dog parks as a whole have gotten really popular because they are places where dogs can come and run free. The owners feel comfortable and they get good outdoor time for their dogs. I think they are definitely needed.”
Odda discovered that shortly after forming his initial task force.
To define the need, Odda learned from the county that there were 2,555 licensed dogs in the 33626 ZIP code. Of those, 855 were in Westchase, a deed-restricted community.
“That was far more than I ever would’ve guessed,” Odda said. “So to me, that showed we were pursuing something that was very worthy and very needed.”
Odda’s task force, which included Westchase residents Ron Boyington, Ray Chairamonte, Ken Blair, Terrence Dutton, Ira Hoffman, David Love, Karen Nelson, Tuyen Tran and Edward Santiago, studied about a dozen potential sites.
The HART Transfer Center site, by far, had the most positive features.
“I think we came up with one that is the most beneficial,” Booher said. “People usually don’t want a dog park in the middle of their neighborhood and most of the (neighborhood) sites were limited in space.
“The site we picked not only had great logistics, but this was property given over to HART. We saved a lot of money because we didn’t have to develop it somewhere that didn’t already have the existing amenities.”
Booher said similar dog agility equipment — hoops, railings, tunnels and poles — is normally found at private facilities that require a fee. And the addition of doggie field turf will cut down on wear and tear, a common occurrence for dog-surfaces that quickly turn to dirt.
“I couldn’t be more delighted with how it turned out,” Odda said. “I think a lot of dogs — not to mention their owners — are going to be very happy with it.”
Contact Joey Johnston at hillsnews@tampabay.com
