<< Previous   of   Next >> (click to enlarge) Contributed photo Boy Scout Tyler Shager (far right) oversees construction work around a concrete pad during volunteer work Saturday, Feb. 28 at Mountlake Terrace's new off-leash dog park.

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Off-leash dog park to open

Non-profit group, Boy Scout help make new Mountlake Terrace park a reality

By Oscar Halpert
Enterprise editor

A new, off-leash dog park opens this month and Shirley Sonnichsen is more than ready.

"I'm so excited, I can hardly stand myself," said Sonnichsen, vice-chair of the non-profit Mountlake Terrace Dog Offleash Group (MLTDOG) that has worked for more than a year to bring the nearly 1-acre park to fruition. "I'd like to see it a little bigger and with more open space but for what we have available, I'm just so happy with it."

An opening date has yet to be set for the new park, located at 53rd Avenue West and 228th Street, just northeast of the Mountlake Terrace Recreation Pavilion's north parking lot.

Volunteers have been putting the finishing touches on the park for weeks. They were out in force Feb. 28 and March 1.

Lake Forest Park Boy Scout Tyler Shager, 17, led other members of his Troop No. 61 Feb. 28 as they finished up installation of park benches. Shager, who's work at the park is helping him earn his Eagle Scout ranking, said he's had fun putting up park rules signs, doggie bag dispensers, an entrance sign and tool shed with equipment supplied by the city of Mountlake Terrace.

"It's been great," he said. "We kind of put it together really fast."

The City Council kick-started the dog park process in 2007, setting aside $50,000. A council committee investigated options, comparing various dog parks and looking at different sites around the city that would be suitable.

Even with all that preparation and volunteer work, however, one last step was needed before the park could get a green light: the city's leash regulations had to be updated because off-leash dogs were not allowed within city limits.

A unanimous council vote on Feb. 17 updated city regulations, allowing dogs to be off leashes within the dog park. The new regulation also strengthened the city's rules for dangerous dogs, setting additional fees, fines and registration requirements, placing a greater responsibility for dog behavior on owners.

James Ito, president of the 135 member MLTDOG, said Northacres Park in north Seattle was the dog park that most closely resembles the new dog park in Mountlake Terrace.

"We learned a lot from that park," he said. "We visited other dog parks on a fairly regular basis, so we had a pretty good rundown of the various parks in the area."

The closest off-leash dog park is the Edmonds Dog Beach. Another dog park lies east of Mill Creek.

A group called Shoredog is working on bringing a dog park to Shoreline.

Mountlake Terrace's dog park will also attract regional dog owners, Ito said, adding that people will be limited to bringing three dogs to the park at a time.

"We want to just keep things manageable," he said.